therza

I am at the very end of my hemi conversion project. I got everything finished today, added the fluids, did the VIN thing with the ProCal module and went to fire it up. All I get is one kind of "jerk" of the motor, like the starter is engaging the flywheel, but will not turn it. I put a charger/starting unit on the battery for 30 mintues to no avail. I decided to call it a day and think about it over the weekend as the Jeep is locked up in the body shop of a friend of mine. I am pretty sure I have a ground issue - somewhere. Mostly likely the block. I used the threaded hole right in front of the starter, as AEV shows in the instructions. I did not clean off the paint from that area, but the threads should bite enough for a ground. Here are my thoughts, but I would appreciate any insight from anyone else who might have had a similar problem.

1. I used the ground lug on the fender for the main ground from the battery harness. I think I will switch it over to the ground on the firewall. That is where the braided steel ground harness from the back of the motor is grounded to.

2. Clean the paint off the block where I grounded the main, long lead from the battery harness. I also am thinking of running a strap between that new ground that I established to the old ground used in the Commander (donor vehicle) located about 6 inches in front of the starter on the block. that is the factory ground lug.

3. I am temorarily using the OE battery as the Optima I ordered has not arrived. The terminals have some red coating on them. I assume that is OK. But maybe I should just clean them up to rule that out......

4. The motor has 20,200 miles on it, was compression checked when I bought it and I spun it by hand (had to to get the torque converter bolts in).

5. The starter is brand new.

Any ideas??

Don

JackMac4

I think you'd be surprised how much paint can interfere with the ground - you really should grind it off.

calypson

Did you use the OEM torque converter bolts? Are they all seated and tight?
Can you still turn the motor by hand? That is of course with a wrench on the crank bolt...

The red stuff (generally) is for better conduction/connection and less corrosion.

thissideup

Start with the easy stuff first. Check your ground. Pull the plugs and try to hand crank the motor. Double and triple check the starter and the connections...try checking it with a meter. Nothing worse than spending 2 weeks trying to figurer out a problem pulling parts to find out...OOOOOO it was a little paint keeping me from getting a good ground. I learned the hard way. I pulled a manual trani and replaced the clutch to find the clutch cable was pinched and the clutch was good to go...I was pissed

therza

Thanks for the replies. Yes I used the OEM, new torque converter bolts. I hand cranked the engine to bring the flywheel around to install the bolts and then one final time to verify they were all tight.

My plan is to start by re-doing the grounds and then going at it with a volt meter. I am either losing ground somewhere, or I have a bad starter out of the box (unlikely).

srtklr

Just because the starter is new(or is it a reman?)doesnt mean it cant be bad. The first thing i would do is run a test lead straight from the battery to the starter solenoid to see if the starter will spin. Ive seen guys work for days in a shop trying to diagnose a problem after replacing a part that didnt seem to fix the problem. They ASSumed the part they replaced was good because it was new.

therza

thanks. I will add that to my list of trouble shooting steps. Don

thissideup

X2 I had a bad power brake boster out of the box on my 74 duster I built. Make sure it is the right part too. I did a friends starter little while ago and the stupid thing had 2 diffrent types starters for that year. Everyone carried the other starter and had no clue why ours looked diff. Do you have an old part to compair it too? If your motor is turning by hand my money is starter/ electrical. What about the battery conection it's self? How are the cables? Loose battery terminals? Seen them go bad as well.
Is the noise a click click click or can you hear the started bear down???

thissideup

You could alway put and old school hand crank on the front to start her up sorry

therza

I don't have the old starter as the bone yard I purchased the motor from throws them away or sells them to be refurbed. Buy I did call a Jeep dealer and verify that this is the only starter for that year/model.

Yes, I can hear the starter bear down, but it does not seem to have the power to spin the motor - like it cannot draw the amps. No click, click, click.

The battery is good and the connections are tight. I am thinking it has to be a ground issue. The location I ran the stud in for grounding was painted. I should have sanded it first. the inside of the hole was probably rusty so the threads may not have enough bite.

I plan to pull the starter and make sure it spins up.

Don