Shark Attack

I have the slow crank when hot issue. It has increased to no crank when hot and has now left me sit twice.

The below items have made a difference in a better crank when cold but still will not crank when hot.

I have replaced the starter
I have replaced the battery
Cleaned the battery posts and connections
Cleaned the batter to chassis ground connection at the battery.
I have replaced the "y" cable the connects from the
Altinator to the starter to the pos jump point.

I have been chasing this for over a year now and I'm about to lose it.

From what I understand there is one more connection some where on the "trans hump"

Where exactly is this? In the cabin or under the car? Can I get to it with out dropping the tranny?

I am going to clean that connection and also if there is a ground strap from the block to chassis, I will clean it also.

If that doesn't do it, I'm going to pull the starter and take it to a local shop for rebuild. Yes I just put it in, 6 mos ago. But I'm out of other ideas.

Thank you for all your help in advance.

Ahsai

Confused. You said you put the starter in 1/2 yr ago but have been chasing this problem for a yr now. So this problem existed even before the current starter?

Ahsai

BTW, if you can reproduce it, you could measure the voltage drop between the battery +ve post and the engine "+" jump terminal (ideally would want to get to the starter "+" but that's difficult to access during cranking. The "+" jump terminal is the closest you can get). Also, the vdrop between the battery -ve post and the engine (not the chassis) during cranking. From the vdrop (anything > 0.5V), you can isolate where you lose your voltage (assuming that's the problem).

If not, it's likely the starter. It sounds very much like a heat soaked starter but then you said it's only 1/2 yr old...

speed rII

Have you checked the engine ground cable?
It's on the right rear frame rail and attached to right side cyl. head.

Easy to see when the right rear wheel is of.

Shark Attack

Yes this is why the starter was changed 1/2 year ago.
Ok, I'm going to check the ground strap.

Does anyone know where this connection is above the transmission???

69gaugeman

Isn't a slow start hot crank a possible bearing issue? I haven't searched here much, but it shouldn't be an electrical issue if it is slow crank when warm.

I would take a torque wrench (the old fashioned beam type with a wire rod on a scale) and test how much toque to turn over when it is cold and then do it when it is warm. It should be easier to turn (mechanically) when warm. If that is not the case, you have some issue internal on the engine. If not you can start looking at the starter circuit.

Can you jump start the car when hot?

If not the engine it can only be the starter as those are the only two items involved here.

leejo

Are you ordering vanilla ice cream when the engine won't start? If so, the answer is vapor lock.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/icecream.asp

DBJoe996

Definitely check the engine ground wire located just in front of the right rear wheel. Clean contact points very well. Then I would do as suggested, check the voltage drop between the positive battery terminal and the jumper connector in the engine bay, then from there to the starter. There is another connector point for the 12V + from the battery to the jumper connector under the car near the transmission...another great possibility for corrosion and bad connection. I know it is a small possibility but you could have a bad starter even out of the box. I had problems starting, cold or hot, and a new starter fixed my problems for now 3 years running. I did all the other stuff suggested first and it didn't help, only the new starter did it.

Rpompea

Plus 1 for replacing the engine ground strap, it can look fine but have high resistance that only impacts you when its hot. You can test by using a pair of jumper cables in order to provide a good ground from engine to frame and then try to start when hot.

Cosmo Kramer

This may sound silly but shut off your A/C before you shut off the car. Then try a hot restart and see what happens. The A/C compressor could be locking up when it is hot.

geetee

replace coolant temp sensor

geetee

When hot car has problem starting or sometimes doesn't start at all?
Nx time this happens, unplug the coolant temp sensor and start the car. If it starts, that's your problem.
It should be behind pass exhaust tip on the block on a 99 I believe...

Cosmo Kramer

I believe the problem is a no-crank problem. A coolant temp sensor isn't related to it.

pfbz

As Ahsai mentioned, some simple diagnostics with a voltmeter should help. At a minimum, it will help you eliminate what the problem is not...

First look at some basic battery voltages:

• Battery terminal voltage engine off (is the battery charged enough?)
• Battery terminal voltage engine running (is charging system providing correct voltage?)
• Battery terminal voltage when engine cranking (how much does the voltage drop at the battery? A basic indication of how much current the starter is drawing)

Then start looking at voltage drops:

• Battery terminal voltage when cranking vs. starter terminal voltage when cranking. This is your total voltage drop through everything.
• If it is excessive, you start measuring the voltage drop on as many cables and ground straps as you can find, trying to find any cable or connection that is particularly weak.

Check starter current. For this, you will need an clamp-type current meter. You probably won't have one, but you can buy them fairly inexpensively... Like .

• Check the starter current draw when cold, then when hot. If you see a huge increase the problem is in the starter itself or the engine causing lots of additional drag when hot

.

Pelican board has some tech notes on this kind of thing as well... Originally written for a 914, but most of it applies...
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...arter_diag.htm

extanker

follow this advise