71 cUDA 440 POSITIVE WIRE FROM BATTERY

[LB1951]

Posting for a Buddy of mine.
He has a 71 Cuda 440 shaker. Only when the car is hot from driving his positive wire from the battery gets hot when trying to start the car. Has anyone had this issue. He has the correct cable on the car but can't figure out why it gets hot trying to start but only after the car has been driven a while. Thanks !

 

[terrywalker]

Is this the large red cable going to the starter or the large gauge red wire going to the starter relay/ ignition circuit that gets hot?

 

[LB1951]

View attachment 72037 Is this the large red cable going to the starter or the large gauge red wire going to the starter relay/ ignition circuit that gets hot?

Good question I will ask him

 

[terrywalker]

A cable/ wire getting hot indicates excessive current due to
1. the starter is drawing too much current or
2. Increased resistance in the cable (corrosion or broken wire strands) or
3. A ground (or short if running along side another cable) caused by faulty insulation (abrasion or cut to metal grounded frame)

 

[LB1951]

My buddy said it's definitely the larger cable to the starter that's getting hotter. He also said when she hot it does take some cranking to start it. Ignition timing is dead on.

 

[LB1951]

A cable/ wire getting hot indicates excessive current due to
1. the starter is drawing too much current or
2. Increased resistance in the cable (corrosion or broken wire strands) or
3. A ground (or short if running along side another cable) caused by faulty insulation (abrasion or cut to metal grounded frame)

I know it still could be one of the three but everything on this car is only a year old, but these could be a good starting point.

 

[Ted70challenger]

The wire is cheap to replace . But most likely the starter has problems .

 

[terrywalker]

My buddy said it's definitely the larger cable to the starter that's getting hotter. He also said when she hot it does take some cranking to start it. Ignition timing is dead on.

Excessive cranking to start will cause the cable to get hot much like jumper cables can get hot when jump starting a hard to start car. Vapor lock in the fuel line will cause hard starting. He'll have to determine if the fuel line is getting hot causing a fuel delivery problem. He needs to thoroughly check the red cable for the problems I mentioned above. If all those check out, then have the starter checked. A resistance check of the wire using an ohm meter can tell alot.

 

[terrywalker]

As a side note. I had a fuel pump get weak causing fuel delivery problems in less than a week because ethanol gas was put in the tank. A new fuel pump and draining the tank took care of that. It may have been a marginal fuel pump off the shelf. I dont know except it barely pumped fuel.

 

[AUSTA]

Posting for a Buddy of mine.
He has a 71 Cuda 440 shaker. Only when the car is hot from driving his positive wire from the battery gets hot when trying to start the car. Has anyone had this issue. He has the correct cable on the car but can't figure out why it gets hot trying to start but only after the car has been driven a while. Thanks !

As the temperature of the starter motor increases it causes the internal resistance of the starter windings to increase which causes the starter to lose HP resulting in a higher current draw causing the leads to get hot.
To over come this make sure the starter is in good condition & increase the size of the red conductor cable it makes a big difference also check the negative cable to the engine is in good condition often it is too small resulting in a slower cranking speed making it harder to start,if the red positive is getting hot also check the negative ground cable.

 

[terrywalker]

A clamp on ammeter will tell you what amount of current the starter is drawing. It would be interesting to see the difference in amps drawn when cold as compared to hot. Most people don't have access to the clamp on meter. As mentioned, check the negative cable also to make sure connections are good and clean. A larger cable size allows higher amp load for sure.

 

[Caterpillars]

My buddy said it's definitely the larger cable to the starter that's getting hotter. He also said when she hot it does take some cranking to start it. Ignition timing is dead on.

 

[Caterpillars]

Tell him to advance the timing...

 

[LB1951]

Tell him to advance the timing...

It's already 16 degrees initial 35 degrees at 2500 rpm

 

[crackedback]

Timing if a stocker camshaft is decent.

My guess is the carb is boiling off fuel, flooding the engine and draining bowls.

With that timing I wouldn't expect excessive cranking. Flick of the key type settings. I'd hold it wide open and crank it and see if it starts quicker when hot. If it starts quicker, then it's likely flooding from a boil over issue. New fuel is not good at tolerating heat.

 

[LB1951]

I finally talked my buddy into taking off his Holley carb and trying my Edelbrock 750 performer off my 440 Coronet RT and he agreed. He called me the next day and said he couldn't believe the difference. Not only did it start at the touch of the key it also eliminated his off idle stumble, no more sitting there cranking to get it started no more hot positive wire to the starter. Lots of guys love Holleys, not me you couldn't give me one, when I bought my Coronet RT back in 06 it had a Holley on it. After 6 months of 7 different Holley guys trying to get it to run it came off and the 750 Performer went on and I haven't touched it since. The Edelbrocks are so much easier to tune. You take them out of the box slap them on and they run. Anyway my buddies issues are solved he now knows what he has to do.

 

[j james]

Posting for a Buddy of mine.
He has a 71 Cuda 440 shaker. Only when the car is hot from driving his positive wire from the battery gets hot when trying to start the car. Has anyone had this issue. He has the correct cable on the car but can't figure out why it gets hot trying to start but only after the car has been driven a while. Thanks !

check all your grounds

 

[LB1951]

check all your grounds

He knows what the issue is, read my previous post #16

 

[Ted70challenger]

Good for your buddy it’s fixed .

 

[LB1951]