• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

A little confused over battery issues....

The ground should attach directly to the engine. The engine should also ground to the firewall. When the battery is in the original location, were does the ground wire connect ? Normally the heavy cable goes the the front of the head or intake manifold bolt with the smaller gauge wire connecting to the core support..Moving it to the rear makes the ground locations even more important.
 
If the battery is in the trunk, wouldn't it be better to use a short ground cable to the chassis, and also ground the engine to chassis?
 
I used the DEI heat wrap and it cured the problem immediately.
 
My cars have tied subframes welded into the floor pan, roll bars welded to various body parts. The ground strap from the fire wall to the engine block makes sure the ground is good to the starter. Make sure the positive wire from the trunk is big enough. I don't think #2 is big enough for a B body. My opinion.
 
I forgot to mention that my battery is in the trunk and I'm running #0 wire for the positive wire and the battery to chassis ground and #2 cable for the chassis to engine block.
 
I am upgrading my battery BTW, Going to the biggest I can get and I may have misspoke about cable size to starter. The cable itself (copper wire) is about 3/8" in diameter plus the shielding and what was recommended by the research I did. I know I will be taking starter off when I do header on drivers side, the header cradles the starter and won't come out until I disengage starter and work it out around starter....PIA for sure. That is why I am going to wrap or sleeve starter while I am at it. Keep the comments coming gents, I am learning something from every one of your experiences! Mocajava
 
If wire is about 3/8" that sounds like #2, not sure. My Satellite came with #2 wire from the trunk. I knew that was not big enough. My positive wire going to the starter i about 1/2" wire diameter. I forget if this is #0 or 00. In the past I have used #00 welding cable to go from the trunk. That is big enough. Wrapping the starter may help. I'd still check the insides of the starter. Those solenoid contacts can act the way you describe.
 
Your cables are too small, especially the ground. And like others have pointed out, it needs to go directly to the engine/trans. You can branch out from there with chassis grounds and maybe one or two off the battery in the rear.
 
I am upgrading my battery BTW, Going to the biggest I can get
Please post what you come up with for a battery. I am in the market for one myself. My Optima Red Top is now 9 years old and doesn't quite cut it anymore. I do, however, want a sealed battery and it has to fit in my trunk "Moroso" battery box.
 
I have a 69 Coronet with a 383 stroked to a 496, with a new wiring system for the entire car. The battery is mounted in the trunk with a heavy cable running forward and through a cutoff switch. My compression ratio is about 11 to 1 and gage reads about 13.7-14 amps while running. She starts fine when cold every time, I have a Holly Sniper EFI system on it. The issue is after running the roads, just normal driving for about 30 minutes and getting to 195 temp. When I shut her off I can't get her started again...she only makes about one to two sluggish revolutions and acts like battery is drained. The battery is new, isn't all that large but seems to be drained. If I wait an hour to let everything cool down, she cranks right up again very easily. I realize the battery in the trunk takes more drain just from the resistance of cable over that long route to starter, but the issue seems to be the heat of the engine. I have double checked all the connections and confirmed all are tight. Could it be that the battery isn't big enough to provide enough amperage when hot and the compression ration is slightly higher when the engine gets to operating temp causing my starting problems? I am thinking about getting a larger battery which provides more cranking amps but wanted to get some expert opinions before I spend more cash chasing this problem. Thanks for the help Gents! Mocajava
Great suggestions here one and all. Maybe ck. the voltage on both sides of the cutoff switch cold and then hot. Might be high resistance through the switch when hot after running for some time.
 
Get yourself a starter from a 92-95 Dakota. It's a mini starter and will bolt right on and costs a lot less than a fancy high torque one. About $45 for a rebuilt one and around $80 for a new one from Rock Auto. Rebuilt one has a 1 year warranty and new one has 2 year. This is for a Delco starter. 0 or 00 cable should be used going to the starter and from the battery to ground. I'm also not a proponent of using a cut-off switch in the positive cable. Put it in the negative cable close to the battery so everything is dead when it is off.
 
Just got the header insulation wrap and waiting for the starter blanket to come in. It will be a PIA to pull starter and headers to get this done but seems like the smart thing to do. Doing it all with car up on jack stands, on my back on garage garage floor. I REALLY miss my 4 post lift!
 
My journey with this same issue in my 68 b body with big block 451 includes swapping to the Dakota mini starter but the clearance between starter and block is so tight I can’t fit any heat wrap around or in between the starter. In the end the additional thing that solved it was upsizing my battery from a size 24 to the size 27 for big block/hemi. Now it spins fast even when hot. Before with the size 24 smaller battery and mini starter it often would not spin the engine fast enough when that starter was hot.
 
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top