Problem restarting hot motor..

richd · 05-19-2003, 12:16 PM

I've been having similar problems...but my battery is in the stock location. I've actually had smoke puff through the hood from this. Here's the history:

Originally had a problem with the starter not engaging and losing all power as soon as the key went to START (Note to crazypete: there is a silver circuit breaker on the starter solenoid that causes this). It would eventually start if I waited and retryed multiple times. I put a new starter in and the problem went away...for a while.

After a couple months it happened again. Mostly it would just crank slowly, but one time I noticed the smoke was coming from near the battery! I checked around and noticed the battery to body ground was heavily corroded and very hot! So I crimped some spade connectors onto a couple pieces of similar guage wire and replaced the ground. Voila! Started right up with no hesitation.

That worked for a while but now it's starting to crank slowly again. I looked at the connections and they are starting to corrode a bit. So I think the problem is maintaining a good ground at that point.

It's possible that the combination of types of metal on the body/spade/wire are prone to corrosion when used together. Or it could be heat related, maybe I need a much heavier guage wire. But if that's the case, the ground to the block should be taking the brunt of the starter current. Maybe the ground to the block is not what it should be.

crazypete - Your P/S system may need to be bled. Idle the engine and turn the steering wheel lock to lock a few times and check the fluid level. Maybe at some point the fluid level got too low and air got in the system. Just a thought....

Hope this helps spark some ideas,

Rich D.

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05-19-2003, 12:16 PM	#11
richd Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Edison, NJ, USA Posts: 125	I've been having similar problems...but my battery is in the stock location. I've actually had smoke puff through the hood from this. Here's the history: Originally had a problem with the starter not engaging and losing all power as soon as the key went to START (Note to crazypete: there is a silver circuit breaker on the starter solenoid that causes this). It would eventually start if I waited and retryed multiple times. I put a new starter in and the problem went away...for a while. After a couple months it happened again. Mostly it would just crank slowly, but one time I noticed the smoke was coming from near the battery! I checked around and noticed the battery to body ground was heavily corroded and very hot! So I crimped some spade connectors onto a couple pieces of similar guage wire and replaced the ground. Voila! Started right up with no hesitation. That worked for a while but now it's starting to crank slowly again. I looked at the connections and they are starting to corrode a bit. So I think the problem is maintaining a good ground at that point. It's possible that the combination of types of metal on the body/spade/wire are prone to corrosion when used together. Or it could be heat related, maybe I need a much heavier guage wire. But if that's the case, the ground to the block should be taking the brunt of the starter current. Maybe the ground to the block is not what it should be. crazypete - Your P/S system may need to be bled. Idle the engine and turn the steering wheel lock to lock a few times and check the fluid level. Maybe at some point the fluid level got too low and air got in the system. Just a thought.... Hope this helps spark some ideas, Rich D.