hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 My dime has always had the click click and slow turning starter problem that a lot of them have, and I added a relay to fix it (this worked perfect on my first 510) but it didn't solve the problem this time and i noticed that my ground is just bolted to the trunk pan. wouldn't it be better to at least run a bolt through the frame rail? I also noticed that there is no ground from the engine block to the body. where would be the best place to connect to the body? bolt through the frame? any other ideas??? I'm also thinking of just putting the battery back in the engine compartment... Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 the roof ,,,,,,,,,Spare Tire ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,Window ? ,,,,,,,,, :P ollz :lol: ,,, clean all connections ,,, apply electrical contact cleaner/grease :cool: ,,, check your cable(s) condition Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 the roof ,,,,,,,,,Spare Tire ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,Window ? ,,,,,,,,, :P ollz :lol: ,,, clean all connections ,,, apply electrical contact cleaner/grease :cool: ,,, check your cable(s) condition Haha Yeah cleaned all connections, applied elctrical grease, brand new negative cable and after it cranks a few times the cable gets real hot right where it mounts to the floor. Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 battery located/mounted in the trunk ? :huh: CC amps ok on your current battery ? :) Quote Link to comment
metalmonkey47 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 What gauge wire is your ground? Run a second ground strap maybe? Quote Link to comment
INDY510 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 . So how does the starter motor even turn over??? ............ :huh: Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Yes battery is in the trunk, was that way when I bought it. battery is new can't rember the cc amps but it was higher that most on the shelf. the ground cable is a 4 gauge. the starter will only turn about a half a revolution and stops, some time just clicks. sometimes the half a turn is all it takes to start the car, but not always, thats why i want to figure it out. Quote Link to comment
I'm BLUE Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Do you have a very "high" compression motor ? :huh: is your starter motor bad or "toast" ? thought about hooking it back up to where it's suppose to be and trying that ;) Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I think i'm going to put it back in the engine compartment. I'm tired of messing with the trunk mount and its a street car now not a racer:D maybe later down the line when I swap in the VG it will go back to the trunk, but for right now I just want it to be reliable. But i do have a spare starter maybe i'll try that first, I don't think thats the problem but its worth a try. Thanks for the tips guys! Quote Link to comment
yello620 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 You said that you dont have a ground strap from the body to the motor. This is VERY important. And it is required even if you mount the battery back in the stock position. Going back to the stock position might put your battery ground straight to the motor and the starter will work much better, but you still need that ground strap to the body because all of your lighting(headlights) are grounded to the body. You need the ground strap from motor to body to complete the circuit properly. Quote Link to comment
elmerfudpucker Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I always run it thru the floor to the frame and weld it then add an extra ground from the motor to the frame as well, that will cure the problem. And make your ground out of 0 gauge from the frame to the battery. Quote Link to comment
qwik510 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 I am in the process of installing a trunk mount batter into my VG project. I had a similar setup in my old V8 510. It is important to run a heavy gauge wire (minimum 2 gauge but zero gauge is even better) from the battery positive to the starter. Same gauge wire from battery negative to the body. Make sure you sand off any paint at the body ground connection and bolt it to the body. I used a 3/8" bolt through the trunk floor. You need another ground from the motor to the body up front. I am using a braided ground strap and will be attaching it to the firewall with a 3/8" bolt. If you are running an L series motor, you should not have any issues with heat at the starter solenoid as your exhaust is on the other side of the engine. But GM cars are known to have heat issues that minimize cranking power when the solenoid gets hot. That dreaded click, click, click. Using a remote solenoid can fix the problem. This is what I am using. http://www.madelectrical.com/catalog/st-1.shtml I used this on my V8 dime along with the grounding mentioned above and I never had an issue again. Another benefit of this is that the large positive battery cable is only hot when the starter is being cranked over. This is a good safety feature. You will need to run another power wire to the alternator and fuse box but Mad Enterprises sells everything you need or you can piece it together yourself to save a few bucks. Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks for all the help, I figured a ground from the block to the body was part of the problem. That will be step 1 , and a bigger battery cable too. so mounting to the fire wall and trunk pan is good as long as its tight and clean? not necessary to go through the frame? Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 On a stock L-16 the battery is grounded to the engine. There is a reason Nissan did it this way. The highest currents flow between the battery and the starter. This need to be the most direct, fewest connections, fattest wire connections possible. Including the ground with a remote battery. The best place to ground the battery is to one of the starter bolts, and you have to use a wire two to four gauge sizes larger than stock for both the positive, and negative runs. Quote Link to comment
yello620 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 so mounting to the fire wall and trunk pan is good as long as its tight and clean? not necessary to go through the frame? What are you considering the frame?? This is a 510 right? This is a unibody car, the trunk floor and firewall are all welded together as one large negative battery cable mounting point. Clean connections and oversized cable is the key here. Anolng with this, use quality cable ends that are crimped or soldered on. Dont use those cheesy bolt on cable ends. Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 What I mean by frame is the rails that the pan/floors are welded to and the rails that the motor mounts are connected to. I thought that if there was hidden rust or in between the trunk pan and the supports under it that might cause poor ground connection? I would think it would be best to connect to the thickest part of the body possible not just a thin sheet metal floor pan but it looks like most trunk mount kits come with a real short ground cable, implying that you can bolt to anywhere on the floor... Quote Link to comment
INDY510 Posted January 5, 2011 Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 . I have no idea......... but I thought most people run the ground cable all the way to the starter motor??? The longer the cable..... the thicker it needs to be . ...... but it'd be alot cheaper to just put it back in the engine bay ... even temporarily just to see if it fixes the problem Quote Link to comment
hobbes_the_cat Posted January 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2011 Yeah, I have a new game plan: Ground block to the body, if that doesn't work swap in the spare starter, If that doesn't work re mount the battery in the engine compartment. One of those has to fix it:blink: Quote Link to comment
dennis Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 The best place to ground your battery in the trunk is going to be the spot with the thickest metal. This will be the path to least resistance. Quote Link to comment
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