just installed a fresh straight 8 in my 52 Pontiac, 6volt, good grounds. starter rebuilt, but cranks very slowly so engine wont start. battery cable ends get hot, so there must be resistance. could starter be drawing too many amps, and if so how do I check. any other ideas why it would crank so hard. tried 12 volts, but still cranks hard.
Try turning the engine over by hand, it is possible that the engine is way tight (a possible result of improper tolerances, clearances, torque or ***embly) and the starter is unable to turn it over. If you can turn the engine over by hand check to make sure your timing is correct. If these check out remove the starter and take it to your local auto parts store and get them to load test it. Also be sure that your battery cables are not excessively long or of too small a gauge.
If the battery cable ends get hot but the cable doesn't, there is a bad connection either in the cable to the end or what the end is connected to.
Yes, do that first, and the next test is to take out the sparkplugs. If it hand turns tough with plugs out, that's not good. how tight is too tight? hard to describe, but give it a go and report back. also, you can try the starter with plugs out, and spray some light oil in the cylinders first. PB blaster makes a lube oil with the red spray tube, I got it from Home Depot, next to the regular PB
First thing is first what gauge is the wire that is getting hot? I am ***uming you are talking about the battery wires correct? If they are getting hot use an approiate size I have seen one too many times where the gauge of wire being used was too small and caused a fire. Next is to make sure the battery is fully charged. If the wire is a correct gauge or larger (going larger wont hurt) then look into the connection points make sure they are cleaned and connected tight. If neither of these is your problem take your starter off and get it checked.
In addition to other suggestions, we learned the hard way to go ahead and put NEW brushes in the starter, sooner than later. They are probably available at any good starter shop and just screw in. Do a little cleaning while you are at it. Best money we spent after everything else we tried.
http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/voltage-drop-test.html Measuring voltage drop while cranking will make it clear if there is too much resistance, and if done step by step can identify if it is the cable, crimp connection, or bolted joint. Even more fun than these. http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/xray_specs.jpg
Back in the day when the engine was tight you could push or pull car with chain or rope. Those auto trans you can do that.
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