Engine Won't Turn Over

[TurboTalon11]

Now and then when I try to start my car it won't start until after a couple of turns of the key. The silonoid pops out in the start all the time, you can here it, but it won't turn all the times. There are time where it will start with one try but 75% of the times it won't even turn until a couple of tries. I have a new optima battery and new starter. None of those were the problem. The car was an automatic but I got i changed to a manual. Its a 91 FWD turbo. Can someoine help me out? Thanks.

 

[luv2rallye]

Check the main big battery cables. If you have a voltmeter you can measure any voltage drop from 1 end of the cable to the other while engaging the starter. There should be none (or less than 0.1 volt). If you suspect one of the cables you can jumper across it with another known good one (like battery jumper cable) to see if problem goes away (or voltage drop decreases). Then remove the cables, clean their ends and places they attach to with sandpaper. Bend them along every inch to see if they feel cracked or old. If so replace them. Tighten securly when reinstalling. Remember, even a 0.1 ohm resistance in a poor connection (or hairline crack) in a cable that's running 70 amps of starter current will drop 7 volts which will not even turn the engine over. Battery cable internal cracks and poor connections are the #1 cause of electrical starter problems.

 

[TurboTalon11]

I changed the wire for the starter on the with a brand new one before and it was still happening. Do you think I should change the ground wire too? cause I didn't change that one.

 

[luv2rallye]

Wouldn't hurt but did you do what I said in my previous post? But first just temporarily connect the battery negative to the engine block with a battery jumper cable. If it now starts you know you have a problem in the grounding cable(s) (poor connection, high resistance, cracked/broken, or not present).

 

[TurboTalon11]

ok I tried what you said and I even changed out both the ground wire and the postive wire with 4 guage wires brand new and still the problem is still there. What can I do now?

 

[luv2rallye]

Measure the voltage on the big wire AT THE STARTER while cranking. If less than 10 volts you have a high resistance (in cable/connections) or bad battery problem. If greater, you may have just gotten a bad starter - Wouldn't be the first time as they rebuild them and some do a better job than others.