Starter problem on 73. Help!!
 

Here is the situation.

After finishing rebuilding the trailing arms on my 73 I lowered the vehicle and was ready to fire her up. After turning the key all I heard was the solenoid 'clicking and chattering'. I pulled the starter motor and had it rebuilt. I checked the battery. I checked all terminals, including earths. I re-installed the rebuilt starter motor only to have it do the exact same thing.
I tried a different battery and re-checked terminals. Still the same.
I then tried jumping the starter using a screw driver to find it still only 'clicked and chattered'. I have checked up on some old posts on the forum but I am not sure what to do next. Is it still the starter motor?? Can anyone give me an idea what I should do next.

It is so frustrating.

Get out a volt meter and verify you are getting a good 12+ volts at the starter. Check your ground wire and make sure it is grounded good. Then check to see when you try to start you are getting a full 12 volts at the selonoid. Sounds like low voltage.

Check the ground cable at the right hand motor mount and the one to the frame from the battery. If you have a shutoff on the battery cable take it out and try it as the knob type fail sometimes.

Snap-On sells these inductive amp gauges (I'm sure others carry them as well)...
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/52600/52570.JPG
One is to test starter draw and the other will indicate charge rate with the engine running. Place the starter gauge over the battery cable and it will give you the starter draw and indicate it your starter draw is too much. (Be sure to use the starter gauge, 600 amp, or you'll easily peg the needle on the charging gauge and could damage it.)

A good starter should pull under 200 while a bad starter will almost always peg the needle. Most service manuals will tell you the started draw, but as I said, a bad started will almost always peg the needle, so there is little mystery involved. I have had them for years and they are very useful in diagnosing electrical issues.

A few years back a neighbor had a Mustang that indicated it needed a new starter so I sent him to a pick up a new starter. We installed it "assuming" it was good and it still pegged the needle. We replaced both cables with new and it would still peg the needle. Pulled it and when jumping it directly it would peg the needle. He returned it for another and we tested it with jumper cables before installing it and it would not even turn over. I told him to get his original starter back and take it to a much more reputable auto parts place (he had used the least expensive) and it worked fine. If you're in the NW Florida area. stay away from Trout Auto if you need a rebuilt starter...

Good luck... GUSTO

:iagree:
Sounds like classic case of starter not getting enough "juice".:(
Usually a low battery.

If the battery is good then the "juice" is not getting to the starter.
#1 is bad battery connections
#2 on a 73 would be the ground cable-usually where the cable attaches to the frame under the battery.(to rule this out take one of your jumper cable leads and connect one end to neg. battery terminal and the other end to the frame-this will take the place of the neg. battery cable)
#3 the positive cable connection at the starter solenoid-make sure its tight

Thanks Guys. Appreciate the advice.

I know a charged battery should read at about 12+v but my battery is reading at abit over 11V and I only had it charged a couple days ago. Even so, should that still be enough to engage the starter motor?

What Does It Read At The Starter?

I also tried using another battery out of my other car. The other battery was reading at full charge (12+V) but it is only rated at 450CCA. It also only managed to get the solenoid firing in and out.

When I used the fully charged battery (from my other car) it read 12.3V at the starter. But it only achieved the same result.

If You Had Good Voltage At The Starter And Clean Connections.. And The Screw Driver Did Not Turn The Starter Over It Would Seem Like It Would Have To Be The Starter Motor.. The Motor Should Spin With 12 Volts Directly To It.

I guess I will have to pull it back out and take it to the shop that repaired it. Thanks Darrow.

no...your battery should read a full 12 plus..12.2 is pretty common...these batteries are designed for 12 volt (electrical force) output, in conjunction to that is the amperage or current (the flow) which is designed into each battery. the way they do this is with internal plates connected in a pattern to accomplish the 12 V standard and the amperage desired..as the battery charge drops through use the current will drop, if the current drops enough, it will effect the Voltage ...if you only have only have 11 volts your battery is pretty drained of it's charge.. a lot of people think that if they go with the highest CCA battery it's the best thing..thats not actually true...the higher the CCA ( or the faster the flow) the less cranking time you will get.. if you don't have a high compression engine and can get away with a little less umph, you'de be better off with a lower CCA and get more reserve (time) also as CCA goes higher they accomplish this with more plates which equals thinner plates, therefore more susceptible to breaking, causing a battery to not hold it's charge . the lower CCA has thicker and therfore more durable plates...Sorry didn't mean to lecture....

Should have 9 volts minimum at starter while cranking. Sounds like you may need battery cables.

Check the ground cables it's eaiser than pulling the starter. Check the one from the right hand motor mount to the frame as they were aluminum and rotted off then the engine has no ground. If you have long jumper cables go from the battery - to the engine with the cable.

Not at all. Appreciate the info. I always assumed the higher CCa the better. Good to know. THanks:thumbs: