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Old 02-20-2017, 10:00 PM   #36
dmjlambert
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 3,513
Re: Hard start question

I bought a mini starter from Skip White. It is OK but not sure it is a vast improvement over what I had. After emailing with Skip, he so highly recommended the Powermaster 9100 that I went ahead and got it. It did not come with the proper bolts like those $74.50 high torque mini starters come with, so I was disappointed. I used the old stock bolts with flat washers as spacers because the stock bolts are a little too long for the 9100 mini-starter. (EDIT: One thing I will say about the Chinese mini starter is if you undo the small bolts that let you change the clocking, or take them loose just to look at the clocking options, you must use some of that blue thread locker paste on those screws, because they will come loose. It may be a good idea to remove those screws just to apply thread locker even if you're not interested in changing the clocking. After mounting any starter, crawl under there and check that it's still tight after a week, and again after a month. While you're at it, check your wheel lug nuts, too, just for the heck of it.)

I've been watching your thread quietly wondering if I had anything to pitch in, and I just don't know what to think. I would think the heat shield on the starter would do good. I have just a couple of thoughts, and I'm a newbie so don't know if it will do you any good:

1. So, if you retard the timing a little, all problem with hot cranking is cured? That makes me wonder about if your distributor vacuum advance is working and if you have it hooked up. The whole point of the vacuum advance is to retard the timing until you get above idle. So if you like your timing that gives you a difficult hot start, are you achieving that amount of advance by using the vacuum advance? If you do have it connected to ported vacuum, have you checked that the vacuum actuator actually works?

2. When you moved that neg cable from the alternator bracket and bolted it straight to the engine block, did you clean paint off down to bare metal where it is attached? Is the place where the starter is attached bare metal?

3. Is the problem cured by putting jumper cable directly between the negative terminal of your truck's battery and the starter housing, and putting a jumper cable between the positive terminal of the truck's battery to the battery terminal of the starter, so you are supplementing the truck's battery cables? I was not sure what you meant by "A jump will make it start fine when hot", if you meant jumping from another car or separate battery, or simply adding more wire in parallel to the existing wires, which I think is what Franken was suggesting when he said add capacity to existing wires as a test.

4. As a test, try sticking a cut coffee can or roof flashing or other sheet metal between the header and starter, preferably wedged in there somehow to get it to have a small air space between the header and sheet metal, and air space between the starter and sheet metal. Does the starter get so hot that you can't touch it when it is shielded in that way? If you are able to situate a sheet metal heat shield in that manner I would think it is OK to remove the heat shield wrap from the starter (if it is that type of heat shield). Disconnect the neg battery cable from the battery while messing around in that area of the starter with a hunk of metal, so you don't cause a short. Make sure the terminals of the starter are not so close to the fabricated heat shield that you could have a short while running the engine or driving until the engine is hot.

Last edited by dmjlambert; 02-20-2017 at 10:06 PM. Reason: add more information about loose bolts on mini starter
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