Click, Click = no crank

[draginmopars]

Doesn't mean the starter is bad

While at the Track last week
70 Dart-mini starter
failed to crank, to go to staging lanes
grabbed jumper cables > battery in trunk
finally got it to start.
won round

charged battery in pits
drove to the lanes for "quick eight"
waited to run
no crank again,
used a different set of cables
no crank
quit for the night.

finally got it started, load on trailer

So, today changed the starter
old school> gear reduction> known good..

click, click, no crank... LOL....
checked voltage at starter = 0.000000000000000 volts
cable end at relay had broken, only shrink wrap holding the end to the connector

replaced cable
all is good
ready to go back

 

[67Dart273]

There's been "several times" over the years something "simple" like that has been my trouble

When I had my first RR, a 69, back in 1970, it would not crank one day. This had the original factory cable down to the starter with the dual molded connector. The flexing from the engine idling had broken the smaller wire to the solenoid, inside the insulation, right there at the molded plastic

Not too many years ago, my 86 Ranger V6 would not crank. The battery main ground cable went down and bolted to the frame with a "tap off" terminal (factory) and from there jumpered over to the block. It had corroded from the inside out....on the end going to the block. headlights, etc, would come on, but engine would not crank

On either the old style Mopar starters, or the GM starters with mounted solenoids, they have a "pull in" and a "hold in" winding. The "pull in" winding is IN SERIES with the starter motor to ground. If something is wrong with the starter actual MOTOR, it can prevent the solenoid from pulling in, leading "off in left field"

Biggest and I DO MEAN problem is guys do NOT properly CLEAN the battery posts/ clamps.

Sometimes, you will get a starter drive, "bendix" which will crank until the engine starts to fire and then "kick out" and the engine dies. Sometimes you can get it fired and get home by doing this........best with two people, or jumper the starter undr the hood. Pull the coil wire, and the starter will crank just fine. Bring the coil wire "in" to the distributor, but not all the way, and as it starts to "arc" across if you are lucky the engine will fire and start.

There's a LOT of guys on this board would do well to learn how the Mopar starting system "actually works." It just might save your a$$ one day on the side of the road.

 

[twayne24365]

mine had the same problem, replaced the battery terminal ends and the connector at the starter. probkem solved!