Bad ground?

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Rengo

Rengo

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Location
Fort Scott, Kansas
1975 Ply. Duster 225 / 904 auto

Battery was replaced a week ago, cables and posts are clean, I just replaced the starter five minutes ago and the car still sounds as if there is corrosion on the batter posts.

Could a bad ignition cause this? A bad wire going from starter to fire wall? I am young and have little experience with electrical problems.. HELP!!
 
Rengo said:
sounds as if
Click to expand...

Describe exactly what it does.

Examine carefully the ground cable, should go directly from the engine block to battery NEG

Examine the battery cable should go from starter relay to battery POS. A second large cable should go from the same post on the starter relay to the starter

Stick a screwdriver between the two posts on the starter. Make CERTAIN it is in park/ neutral IE "out of gear" and the starter should crank.

If it does not, all you have there is the two cables, the starter, and the battery.

Do you have a meter/ test lamp? You need a multimeter, and a bag of Radio Shack clip leads.
 
-By 'Sounds like corrosion' do you mean the engine turns over slowly?
- Here's a start...
-Make sure your battery is fully charged. Or, pull up a car with a good battery.
-Put on some safety glasses.
-Connect jumper cables (+ to + and - to -)
-Put in 'park' or depress the clutch; Try to start.
-Have someone feel the battery posts while starting to see if they get hot. If so, bad connection- fix)
-Still a problem, remove the jumpers completely, remove the coil wire, hook one end of the red jumper cable to the big post on your starter and the other end to the + terminal of a good battery. Hook the black jumper to the - post of the battery and touch the remaining end to a clean spot on your engine block near the starter. This will tell you if the starter works. Watch out. If the starter works, the engine will turn over. The fan will turn. Make sure the coil wire is removed so it can't start up and take off.
-There are a lot of things that can be wrong but start with this.
-Get back if you're still at a loss.
 
The car can start now, but the car is still acting like the battery cables are loose. The battery is 590 cranking amps and is holding a good charge. I have not found another cable that goes from the starter to the frame but there is a small wire or cable that goes to the fire wall? The ground to frame on the Neg. is good.
 
Rengo said:
The car can start now, but the car is still acting like the battery cables are loose. The battery is 590 cranking amps and is holding a good charge. I have not found another cable that goes from the starter to the frame but there is a small wire or cable that goes to the fire wall? The ground to frame on the Neg. is good.
Click to expand...

OK well you did not answer the question

What does "acting like" mean?

Does the solenoid buzz? It just turns slow? Does it turn slow with ignition on and off both?

DO YOU HAVE a multimeter or at least a test lamp? Clip leads?
 
A 1975 should have electronic ignition, not points. It sounds like your problems are with turning over the engine with the starter. I hope you bought a mini-starter. If not, you should next time. You must have a multimeter to diagnose anything electrical (free at HF). Measure from the biggest stud on the starter to the case of the starter, as you crank the engine. If <8 V, find the excessive voltage drop(s). They could only be in: big red battery cable to starter, starter case to transmission, transmission to engine block, or engine block to BATT-. I don't know about 1975, but most Darts ran a thick "return" cable from BATT- to the engine block. Next time you visit a junkyard, maybe get both the mini-starter and BATT- cable from a Dodge 80-90's V-8 truck or Jeep GC V-8, like I did. That cable has multiple wires to ground the engine, frame, alternator case, ... There is a reason they did that.
 
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