Won't crank?

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MB43

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Ok, yesterday I took my car out around the block a couple of times and beat on it a bit. I left a few new stretches of rubber on my block, too. Fun. ;-)

Today I went out to start it up and it wouldn't crank. Just clunk. I had this happen last year, when I had coolant leaking into the oil. I thought it was leaking from the intake gaskets, so I assumed I had some water in the cylinders. After cranking the motor over by hand I was able to get it going again. I changed the intake gaskets and now the oil looks clean.

So today I had this problem, so I pulled the hood off and went to crank it by hand. It wouldn't move at first, then it went. No odd noises, just the usual compression hiss. Then I was able to start the motor normally (by using the starter, I mean). After I ran it for a little while I shut it down and checked the oil, it's still clean. Then it fired right up again.

Any ideas as to what could be going on? If there was something physical blocking the crank from spinning, it'd be making noises I would think... Could my starter just be weak? It's relatively new, only a couple of seasons old. The battery is strong too, I just charged it a week or so ago and it's disconnected when it's not in use.
 
Sounds like it could be your starter motor contacts (inside the starter itself). The click of course is your solenoid making and engaging the flywheel, but perhaps your brass contacts are just worn enough to a point not to make the motor rotate after the solinoid is made. Sometimes, this is a on/off process. After time, the turning and pounding of these brass contacts during cranking wear down the contacts to a point that you start to loose a good contact area, therefore the starter motor will not spin. Sometime's it will work just because you have moved the postion of the contacts inside. If this "is" your problem..your time is running out.

By the way, water in your oil will NOT stop the cranking over. Yes pehaps engine start-up.

Pulling the starter with headers :wack:
 
69signetv8 said:
Sounds like it could be your starter motor contacts (inside the starter itself). The click of course is your solenoid making and engaging the flywheel, but perhaps your brass contacts are just worn enough to a point not to make the motor rotate after the solinoid is made. Sometimes, this is a on/off process. After time, the turning and pounding of these brass contacts during cranking wear down the contacts to a point that you start to loose a good contact area, therefore the starter motor will not spin. Sometime's it will work just because you have moved the postion of the contacts inside. If this "is" your problem..your time is running out.
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It doesn't click, it clanks... Like the starter is engaging, but can't spin the motor over.
By the way, water in your oil will NOT stop the cranking over. Yes pehaps engine start-up.
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What about water in the combustion chamber? Last time I pulled the heads there was a bunch of water sitting on top of the pistons.

Pulling the starter with headers :wack:
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Yeah, I know, been there a bunch of times. :-(
 
I would think...if it was last year you had water in the cylinders, but did the repairs, with no water in your oil now, (thats a good thing). You did say you took it for a spin, turned it over by hand...(no bad noises) so I would say it's fine in that respect.
Ensure your starter is tight, also ensure your (+) from battery/starter relay is conected good to your starter motor. If alls fine, I would only suggest you pull it and take a good look at the starter pinion gear. :notworth:

Anything passed your starter or flywheel would NOT be a good thing!! (Engine Hang Up)...Owch. :sad2:
 
Add On,

Just thinking of your situation..When you have this problem, does it just cluck once? I mean, when you turn the key to start what's happening? nothing? I take it you have a auto. Can you take off your access cover and feel around or probe with a flashlight to see if a part of your starter pinion gear or flywheel has broke off and is jamming the flywheel?

Just an idea, trying to help out.
 
i have a friend that had a similar situation when he first put in his 360,he looked under the car to find out that the old starter gear was misaligned somehow(the gear slides back and forward)and until he got a new starter,when his car would do this,he would reach under the car and manually adjust the gear,maybe thats it? it made a clank like youre describing and wouldnt turn the motor,then he would adjust it and it would start right up,hope that may help
 
i agree with both situations.. but before you decide to climb under the car and get all dirty you know how to rap tap tap on the starter to free the bushings if they ARE actually sticking right? age isnt normally an issue but rather that of use on what determines the wear and tear of a starter.. and if you didnt shim the starter properly when you installed it that could be an issue too..

Cerwin
 
Almost every mopar I've ever worked on used anystarter, with or without the factory "shim", which I think is really just a dust seal. Mikel, If you live int he northeast..lol...It may just be your battery terminals. I've found especially in the spring that condensation will form between the batt and cable terminal, even when they are tightly bolted. The idicator is everything is fine after things have a chance to get warm. On some of my cars, I've also had the connection totally lost on a tight battery cable so even headlights and stuff wont work at all. I just clean then withbaking soda and water, then use a terminal brush on them, then bolt them back together with a little dielectric grease. It's much worse if the car is parked out side. Next thought would be starter itself, especially if its the old mopar style as opposed to the MP lightweight.
 
Ok, next time this happens I'll whack the starter and see if that frees it. I'm pretty sure this starter is only about a year old, the one I had before this loosened up and the front of it snapped off.

There are no shims on this starter at all...

69signetv8 - When I hit the start button, it just clanks once, sounds like the starter is engaging. I'll have a look in the tranny to see if there's anything floating around in there.

moper - the battery is disconnected when it's not in use, and both the terminals and the posts on the battery are clean. Every time this happens the car is cold, has either been sitting overnight or just sitting around for a while. Once I get it to start, it will continue to fire right up.
 
I was going to mention your previous problem of the loose starter could be reappearing and causing it to bind. Since you just mentioned it I would guess you already checked that.
 
Tony -

No, I haven't checked that yet. Last time I put the starter in I used different bolts with a bit of locktite, it was still tight at the end of last season. I'll have another look, though.
 
Just throwing everything at you now hay. LOL.

Again you say you have a "strong" battery...and it was re-charged. A good 12V battery meter reading or a good 14V charge to the battery from the alt does not always indicate there's not a strong "amp" battery feed. One of your cell plates could be crusted with sulfate from sitting. Through this chemical process you could get "current" leakage and the battery can no longer deliver it's full rated capacity to the starter. A automotive place can check your battery's amp output at no charge. (sure beat taking out that starter)???

Good Luck, follow member. Keep us posted.
 
But how does that explain that once I crank the motor over by hand it'll start right up?
 
here is one realy strange posibility i had some years back, i had a set of belt pulleys that where nowhere near straight and if the engine stopped in the spor where those pulleys hit eachother the starter wouldnot turn the engine over until i turned the engine over with a big socket on the crank bolt but in that case you should be able to here your pulleys hit each other from time to time...
 
duster340 said:
here is one realy strange posibility i had some years back, i had a set of belt pulleys that where nowhere near straight and if the engine stopped in the spor where those pulleys hit eachother the starter wouldnot turn the engine over until i turned the engine over with a big socket on the crank bolt but in that case you should be able to here your pulleys hit each other from time to time...
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Ah, good one. But that's not the case, I've only got two pulleys... A small crank pulley and the alternator, and they're nowhere near each other.
 
mikelbeck said:
But how does that explain that once I crank the motor over by hand it'll start right up?
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Again you got me there dude! (Got to be Flywheel or Starter gear pinion area) :scratch: When you find out, I hope you let me know..
 
Yeah, I will. I'll poke around in there starter area when I have some time and try to figure out what's up with it.
 
When you turn the engine over by hand, are going in the normal direction or are you turning the engine backwards from its normal rotation? If you have a hydrolock (coolant on top of piston which will not compress at TDC compression stroke -- thus the engine locks down) and you turn it backwards, you may being pushing the water out of the cylinder on the exhaust stroke and when you try to crank it again all is well.

Is it low on coolant?
 
Gordon340 - I'm turning the motor in the normal direction... It sticks at first, then frees up and spins normally. The coolant level is normal.
 
sure all the converterbolts are solidly in place and the flexplate straight and in its right shape? that would be posible reasons for this in the same way of thinking as my last post here..
 
duster340 said:
sure all the converterbolts are solidly in place and the flexplate straight and in its right shape? that would be posible reasons for this in the same way of thinking as my last post here..
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Yep, checked that too. The converter is tight, the flexplate is nice and straight.

I would think that if a bolt was loose or the flexplate was bent, the motor wouldn't spin or it'd make a whole lot of noise. But yeah, I checked that anyway. ;-)
 
mikelbeck said:
Yep, checked that too. The converter is tight, the flexplate is nice and straight.

I would think that if a bolt was loose or the flexplate was bent, the motor wouldn't spin or it'd make a whole lot of noise. But yeah, I checked that anyway. ;-)
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i would also have guesed that but you never know sometimes things like that buggs me alot befor i find them;)
 
Yep, I know the feeling.

Ok, I checked the starter - nice and tight. I looked around the front of the tranny around the flexplate, nothing there to block it. I hit the start button, it fired right up. I guess I'll have to let it sit for a little while to see when it's gonna lock up again.
 
Mikel did you pull the plugs to see if they were wet with antifreeze or if you spit out any water when you crank it by hand?
My gut feeling is it's the starter.
 
onehellofadart said:
Mikel did you pull the plugs to see if they were wet with antifreeze or if you spit out any water when you crank it by hand?
My gut feeling is it's the starter.
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:thumblef: :thumblef: Also, for the hell of it (Can't hurt) pull all your plugs and see how she cranks a few times without any compression. Is there still a cranking problem this way??
 
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