battery ground

[forestb]

I currently have the ground wire from my battery connected to a spare bolt hole in the front of the block. I have a ground strap going from the block to the fire wall. I am having trouble starting my truck when it is hot. It seems as though the starter is not getting enough power to the starter when hot. I was told by the person that installed my wiring harness that I should connect the battery ground to one of the starter motor bolts. I was looking at a tech article Classic Trucks magazine and it looks like they have the battery cable bolted to the frame with a ground strap going to the cab and at the starter motor they have a ground strap coming from the starter and going to the frame with another ground strap going to the cab.

Which one should I do?

[crossfire84]

I have battery ground to back of block, block to frame, cab to frame , box to frame. I welded a stud to frame and bolted all grounds to this. Every thing works great. Don't skimp on ground cable size.

[forestb]

"box"?

[rpmerf]

On the top back of the starter motor is a stud for a starter bracket. I used this stud for an ~4 ga ground wire direct to the battery. This helped hot start.

A heat shield or starter heat wrap helps also.

[VetteVet]

Originally Posted by forestb

"box"?

I think he means the bed of the truck.

Do you have headers?

This condition is commonly called Heat Soak. The usual cause is High resistance in the solenoid or starter windings due to the engine heat combined with poor wiring conductivity.
If the solenoid clicks and the starter turns slowly then the problem is poor connections on the battery cables or the starter windings.

If the solenoid doesn't click then it's the solenoid windings or poor wiring connections to the solenoid.

To check for low voltage to the starter, do a voltage drop to the positive cable while the starter is trying to turn. You should see 10 volts or better.

To check for low voltage to the solenoid, jump from the solenoid large cable connection to the solenoid wire connection when the condition occurs. Be sure to set park brake, truck in P or N and ignition coil wire pulled.

post back with test results.

[forestb]

I do have headers. It will e a while before I can get back to you. My truck is at the paint shop.

Originally Posted by VetteVet

I think he means the bed of the truck.

Do you have headers?

This condition is commonly called Heat Soak. The usual cause is High resistance in the solenoid or starter windings due to the engine heat combined with poor wiring conductivity.
If the solenoid clicks and the starter turns slowly then the problem is poor connections on the battery cables or the starter windings.

If the solenoid doesn't click then it's the solenoid windings or poor wiring connections to the solenoid.

To check for low voltage to the starter, do a voltage drop to the positive cable while the starter is trying to turn. You should see 10 volts or better.

To check for low voltage to the solenoid, jump from the solenoid large cable connection to the solenoid wire connection when the condition occurs. Be sure to set park brake, truck in P or N and ignition coil wire pulled.

post back with test results.