chevy "hot starter" fix?

Had a great experience with this when I was about 15 years old - A young female, about 19 I would guess stops at the store next to my house in her boyfriends hopped up Malibu. When she comes out of the store, of course it won't start. I am cutting the gr*** at our house and I am watching the damsel in distress scenario when she comes out of the car with a ball peen hammer and looks at me with those big eyes like "Help?". Of course the mower goes off and I run over there. She says "My boyfriend says to hit the starter with this when it won't start, where is the starter?" "No problem Ma'am!" and I slide under the chevy, give the solenoid a tap, and as I am sliding out, this young maiden in a mini skirt is standing directly above me. I followed her long legs up to see what I had only seen in magazines before. I got up, handed her the hammer (trying to cover my obvious enjoyment of the view) and headed up to my room to relieve some tension. The car started fine after that.

 

The remote Ford solenoid for starters came about by drag racers because it eliminates having a hot wire flopping around if you have a transmission or clutch failure making sparks possibly starting a fire.

 

I have a new Delco-Remey hi-torque mini starter that I'll sell for $135 this includes shipping, insurance and Paypal fee in continental U.S..

 

Header wrap will shorten the life of your headers and will almost positively void their warranty. I have had the headers wrapped on my OT 355 S-10 for about 8 years. Some of the tubes are actually flattening and several have had 1-2" splits show up in them that had to be welded shut. The wrap really does cool stuff down and decrease noise though. Just be prepared to work on the headers or replace them every 5-10 years.

 

In my opinion, Candy-Man made a great point that is all too often never discussed.

" too small of wire gauge, from your ignition/key (Start Feature) to your solenoid on the starter....."

 

Yep. Lots of money has been spent on "fixes" for a hot starter when it was never a problem to begin with. Lots of us chased that same wild goose. I'm glad you got it fixed.

 

Like meationed earlier, a good ground is a must. I always run a ground on my starters.

 

Same here. Mini starter for sbc is the best money I ever spent on my old engine. Got tired of changing stock rebuild starters. My headers on this particular car didn't make it easy either.

 

I know what you are saying, and I questioned that too, but when I did that very same "Ford solenoid thing" to my 472 Cad powered Stude Hawk with hot-start problems they completely went away.

That's been 20 years since I jumpered across the GM solenoid and used the Ford on the fenderwell.

Ditto for the 350 Chevelle powered bulletnose I used to drive. It does work, and only costs a few $$s

 

Hey guys thanks for all the great input. At least one car is going to get the mini starter, just for the ease of changing. I already put a remote starter switch on the '71, and can use that when it gets hot. The coupe is going to get the Ford solenoid, at least for now. I can put it low on the fire and still look good. Battery is in the trunk, so my plan for the winter is to put a Ford solenoid next to the battery so the positive cable is only hot while cranking. looks like I need a six-pack of solenoids!

 

if your headers run straight out like sprint car or roadster headers...hot starters are not an issue usually., but any shielding will help, even with those.

 

The use of our hot start kit HR-67 eliminates the problem. The best way to make sure before you buy it is see if the engine will crank with a screwdriver across the battery and crank teminals. That is the big terminal in the middle and the smaller one closest to the block. If it cranks, then our system will solve you problem. Lots of customers with headers install the HR-67 from the beginning to make sure they never have the problem. Order our catalog at www.ronfrancis.com. Hope this helps,
Ron Francis

 

Fenderwell headers work wonders.

 

Wow, this thread is old......., but here I am. My heat soak issue started about 6 or 7 months ago. The starter is a hi-torque mini. I'd drive for a while, shut her down, but when I went to restart, she was sluggish and slow to turn over. It was only 5 or 10 minutes, at first, so I really didn't mind that much. Now, it's left me at the gas pump for 45 minutes to an hour. NOT cool!

Here's what I've tried: new battery, new ignition switch, starter wrap, checked my grounds, changed a few wires that weren't the right gauge, cursing and throwing tools.

Now, I've calmed down and maybe I will just replace the solenoid, when money gets to flowing. But looking at what I've already done, is there something I may have missed? Should I save up for a new starter, instead of just replacing the solenoid? My T Bucket wants to know

Or maybe I'll sell the damn thing and build/buy a shoebox!!!

 

If you've checked all the possible wiring problems I'd save up for a new starter...dave

 

Yea, that's what my thoughts are saying. I've also been looking on Ebay for a new ride. Maybe it time for something practical.

 

The Ford soleniod and jumper byp***es the GM soleniod on the starter. And the Ford soleniod (up and away from the heat) now does the work. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

The chev. solenoid pulls the bendix into the flywheel & routes power to the starter , I don't see how a remote solenoid can do that ???
dave

 

Just curious if anyone has had any experience with the Accel (or other brand) aftermarket solenoids. They claim that they are better than OEM but at twice the price are they really?

 

That's what I've heard and read myself. It's an option for me, but location would be a factor, since my T Bucket is fibergl***. Money wise, replacing my present solenoid is the cheaper fix, IF that's the problem. Does heat soak effect the starter itself?

 

Fred,
With your style of headers, I can't believe you're getting a heat soak problem. You could try fabbing up a shield, but I don't think that it will solve your problem. I think that it is time for a new starter. Ditch the mini starter, and replace it with a small Vortec style. I've had the same problem with those mini-starters in the past.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004...2_3?colid=3NKC6OU7M862T&coliid=I24PZGE54LZS69
This is for a 168 tooth staggered pattern. They make them for straight pattern or 153 tooth also.

 

Well, I thought I knew everything about everything and a year ago would weigh in here with my opinion, till my 36 ford pickup taught me a valuable lesson. I went years with a hot start problem, small block chevy, shorty headers that actually touch the starter, I wrapped the pipe around the starter, put in a heavier starter wire off the switch, swapped starters, resisted installing the ford solenoid, chalked it up to live with it. Weird thing was, I could arc the starter post with a screwdriver and it would go, then one night in fitful dreams, I realised the starter worked as it should with a screwdriver, maybe it wasn't the starter. Well.....it wasn't. G.M. column, vintage at least twenty some years old, truck been on the road sixteen years, starter switch on the column, (following me here?), took the switch off, bathed it liberally in contact cleaner, reinstalled, and.....never had a problem since, even on 100 degree days, she'll flash right up. Motto? Look for the easy stuff first, before spending tons of cash.

 

Hmmm...... Now that is a good bit of info. I had heard about the OEM starters, didn't know the specs. I'll check into them at the parts store. A little more than a new solenoid, but the specs show more power than my old starter. Thanks!

 

Good advise and well taken, but I've replaced my switch twice. Trust me, I'm all about doing the cheap fix first. I jumped the starter as you did and get the same old dragging, like the batteries going dead.

 

I think the smaller high torque starters came stock on the 96-99 5.0 and 5.7 Vortec motors in Chevy trucks.

 

"Fred,
With your style of headers, I can't believe you're getting a heat soak problem."

Nobux, that's what I thought, too. It seems the heat is AFTER it's turned off. What keeps throwing me off, is that the problem got progressively worse. I thought electrical stuff either worked or didn't, but I'm no engineer.

 

A Google search shows '88 - '91 Vettes.

 

I'm gonna take a drive to the parts store. Thanks, guys.

 

and remember I believe that there are two sizes of starters depending on the size (teeth) on your flywheel.

 

it byp***es the switch function on the selinoid completely , you connect the the heavy lead to the the normal post ( selinoid ) then there is a buss bar that connect it to the starter motor byp***ing the switching function , and the firewall selinoid controls the whole thing . the plunger in the selinoid is either sticking from heat expansion or its magnetic field is getting weak from the heat exposure and not pulling back hard and far enough as it has to overcome a spring in the back of the selinoid ,

when a starter starts doing this I often replace the selinoid as its becoming weak and also grease up the linkage points for the bendix arms with hi temp grease , with the selinoid off you should be able to throw the bendix with no effort, also I have seen were rust in the selinoid bore ( from the spring ) has caused the plunger to stick , we blow them out and coat them with Wd 40 ( plunger and bore )

Fred , do not wrap the starter ,only the headers ,we found the starter wrap holds in the heat after it runs a while and it does the same thing , a reflective sheild should do the work better as it also acts as a air scoop and you can direct cooler air too it . make it from aluminum to stay some what shiney ( reflects infrared heat ) and try to scoop the air from under the motor , some guys I know make a simple scoop on the frame of there cars to aim air at the starter ***y and it works one I know uses the air from the radiator fan to blow air under there . as long as it sees lots of air it will not get hot . and 200* air is better than 500+ of infrared ( thats the heat you feel radiating off parts)