Starting problems

[Barrman]

I made a thread about this a year or so ago, but can't find it to finish out the story. Didn't really think about it until I saw the other current thread about battery cables. Here is what I had and what fixed it.

My 396 turned over great when the Optima was under the hood. I added a heater and OBA, so the Optima had to be moved. The custom center console kept the battery from going back to between the seats. Behind the passenger seat was where it ended up. I used the stock 230 battery cable to go to the Chevy starter. I grounded the battery to the passenger seat belt mount. Worked great until it rained.

Then the darn thing would decide not to start at odd times. Gas stations, fast food drive thu's, on trails at the Texas FE and stuff like that.

I cleaned all the contacts at the battery, the cable ends and nothing helped. I swapped out the ignition switch and it helped for a few days, but it still turned over slow. So, I moved the ground to the frame under the cab. Didn't really help much.

I just lived with it. It also started causing the radio memory to cut out everytime I started it. So, I just kept a cd in there and lived with it.

With gas prices the way they are, my Gasser living in my shop and the top being off the M715. I got to where it would only be driven to activites Colton had in the evenings. Cub Scouts and sports practice. Two weeks ago, we got in it for Cub Scouts and it started to turn and then stopped. I was in a hurry, so I just loaded him in the Mini and away we went.

I figured the Optima had died since it is 7 years old. I put in a cheap Walmart battery I used for odd things around the place and it didn't do any better. I figured the starter even though I had swapped out the solenoid a few weeks ago in my hunt for the slow starting problem.

I needed to get it into the shop though to comfortably pull the starter. I made sure the Optima was fully charged and put it in to try and get the thing to start without pulling it. Since I have the Slave attachment leads, the regular positive lead and the frame ground lead all laying next to the battery, I didn't notice until I was putting the Optima back in that I also have the old seat belt mount ground lead there too. I figurd why not? and hooked up all 3 ground wires and both positive leads. The thing fired right up like it used to. Radio doesn't cut out anymore either.

Has ever since too. Even in the rain. I always preach to people to "Check your grounds!" when dealing with MV lights. Seems I need to follow my own advice more. The moral here is that checking your grounds or even adding more grounds to seperate locations is always a good idea if you have electrical problems.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Amen to that. Wiring Todds truck has been a hoot but the excellent paint job is exactly that. We have been reestablishing grounds all over the place. Plus grounding a component does not always mean everything else is grounded. His low beams are still needing a better ground. Funny how many newer cars on the road have a dim headlight. Easy fix if they only knew.

[randyscycle]

Freshly painted vehicles can be fun.....Break out the Scotchbrite disc and clean each and every contact point for a ground, then respray over top afterward.

[k8icu]

Also don't forget the ineternal/external washer to help bite into the frame and get better grounding. It's funny, but for some reason MVs have a real grounding issue....I'm not sure as to why that is either.

[george walker]

Always ground to the frame the engine and starter are, the body is never a very good ground source.

[Barrman]

But, the body ground is what made my radio work again. That is why I wrote all of the above. You never know which ground wires are still there and still working after 40 years.

[Snuffy]

Found a place to powdercoat my frame (the rust nazi in me rears his ugly head again) for a very reasonable price... anyone had a problem with grounding to powdercoat??

Snuffy

[randyscycle]

Found a place to powdercoat my frame (the rust nazi in me rears his ugly head again) for a very reasonable price... anyone had a problem with grounding to powdercoat??

Snuffy

Powdercoat is OK I suppose but keep in mind a few things:

First, to get a good ground you will have to remove the coating and that essentially breaks the surface and can allow rust to get under it and defeat the whole purpose. Powder coat is nothing more than a plastic coating really.

Next, if you scratch or chip powdercoat, it will still rust, and then you cannot touch it up, except with paint, which doesn't bond to powdercoat very well.

Be sure too that the powdercoater blocks or tapes any holes you don't want full of powder coat, or they too will be full and a lot smaller. This is particularly important for threaded holes.

If you decide that you don't like powder coat, it is next to impossible to remove without a large amount of chemical stripper, or something very harsh and or abrasive.

For my money and time, I'd go with paint, but that is just my opinion.