LS Foxbody starter won't spin flywheel?
04-30-2016, 07:05 PM
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LS Foxbody starter won't spin flywheel? Hey guys,
I have a 1991 foxbody with an lq4/ls3 top end swapped into it and have been having issues with my starter not having enough power to spin my flywheel after putting the car back together. When I had the transmission (t56) out about a month ago I had my flywheel attached and was able to start the car perfectly fine with the key inside the car. I have my starter wired up using the ford solenoid as well, and I bypassed the clutch/neutral safety switch by just running a wire from my ignition under the dash to the S terminal on the ford solenoid which has power when I turn the key as if I was going to crank the engine over. I was thinking I may have a bad ground because inside the car my volt gauge is only reading about 11V, and then when I turn the key to start the car the volt gauge pegs to 0V?
I then decided to pull the starter with all the wiring hooked up to it and I hooked a battery jumper up to my ford solenoid. I also hooked a jump starter up to the starter itself and it spun perfectly fine with it outside of the car. We put the starter back into the car with both the battery jumper cables hooked up and the jump starter and still couldn't get the flywheel to spin to start the engine. We did this with both the original starter and a brand new starter from Napa with the same result. I spun the crank by hand with a wrench to make sure the engine wasn't seized up for some odd reason and I'm also able to pop start the car and drive it around perfectly fine. I took the car to a reputable shop near me and they couldn't figure out the issue as we tried all of these diagnostic tests while the car was there getting the rest of my exhaust welded up.
Have any of you guys experienced this issue before or have any tips to help me diagnose the problem? Thanks!
-Taylor
I have a 1991 foxbody with an lq4/ls3 top end swapped into it and have been having issues with my starter not having enough power to spin my flywheel after putting the car back together. When I had the transmission (t56) out about a month ago I had my flywheel attached and was able to start the car perfectly fine with the key inside the car. I have my starter wired up using the ford solenoid as well, and I bypassed the clutch/neutral safety switch by just running a wire from my ignition under the dash to the S terminal on the ford solenoid which has power when I turn the key as if I was going to crank the engine over. I was thinking I may have a bad ground because inside the car my volt gauge is only reading about 11V, and then when I turn the key to start the car the volt gauge pegs to 0V?
I then decided to pull the starter with all the wiring hooked up to it and I hooked a battery jumper up to my ford solenoid. I also hooked a jump starter up to the starter itself and it spun perfectly fine with it outside of the car. We put the starter back into the car with both the battery jumper cables hooked up and the jump starter and still couldn't get the flywheel to spin to start the engine. We did this with both the original starter and a brand new starter from Napa with the same result. I spun the crank by hand with a wrench to make sure the engine wasn't seized up for some odd reason and I'm also able to pop start the car and drive it around perfectly fine. I took the car to a reputable shop near me and they couldn't figure out the issue as we tried all of these diagnostic tests while the car was there getting the rest of my exhaust welded up.
Have any of you guys experienced this issue before or have any tips to help me diagnose the problem? Thanks!
-Taylor
05-01-2016, 10:01 AM
#2
Are both battery cables good? Where is your battery ground cable attached to? Have you tried bypassing the Ford solenoid? Do you have the two terminals, the big battery cable and the small one that used to go to the ignition switch on the Chevy, on the starter tied together?
05-02-2016, 03:58 PM
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Ended up figuring everything out yesterday afternoon when I was able to test out my wiring with a volt meter. Ended up being a bad ground from the engine to the frame of the car and she started right up. All of my other wiring was perfectly fine. Thanks though for all your guys input! Appreciate it!