Quote:
Originally Posted by george kujanski
"The pinion on the solenoid will fire but the starter will not engage."
Ok, so either the battery is poor, not being charged when the engine is running, poor connections from the battery to the starter, or poor internal connections in the starter solenoid.
When the solenoid drives the pinion out, it also makes an internal high current connection from the battery cable to the internal starter motor.
Attaching a jump box and having it start when hot (after running) seems to indicate the battery is not charging well when running.
George
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Hang with me, this is a long and perhaps confusing post. So, it appears the battery was not charging when running. To test it, I hooked up my multimeter to the battery neg and pos posts, it showed the battery voltage at 12.20 volts when not running. I then started the engine, and the voltage started to decline. Revving the engine to 2500rpm showed no improvement. I assume it should have read at least 14.20 volts if the alternator was working. To test the alternator directly I disconnected leads from the battery and hooked them directly to the alternator output terminal and grounded to the case. THIS IS WHERE IT STARTS TO GET WEIRD. Upon starting the engine, the alternator output was 14.40. So, it's good, right? During this testing the alternator or it's belt was making a screeching noise, so I shut it down and loosened the belt quite a bit. Upon starting engine again, the screech was gone, and the alternator output was still at 14.40. At that point I disconnected the multimeter leads from the alternator case and put them directly on the battery leads. NOW the battery showed it was charging at 14.20 and climbing. It eventually got to 14.40 volts and stayed there. After letting it run for 15 mins. I shut it down. The battery voltage was now showing 12.80 volts and has remained there for several hours. Problem solved? Who knows, I'm a flummoxed. Why loosening the alternator belt made such a difference is beyond me. Anyway, I'll take her for a test drive tomorrow to see how she does and let you know. Thanks for all the help guys.