EK Wagon project - Total rebuild

[WayneXG95]

Looking forward to seeing your wagon at the nats mate, cheers..

[WayneXG95]

I'm thinking your starter motor solenoid might be over heating or breaking down, have it tested by a auto electrican.

[Harv]

I'm thinking your starter motor solenoid might be over heating or breaking down, have it tested by a auto electrican.

Crook solenoid = no clicky noise when the key is first turned. Do you get the clicky noise Finny?
Crook starter (or solenoid) may be helped a bit by heat shielding it from the exhaust. Try a piece of steel plate offcut temporarily cable tied in place between the exhaust and starter. A more permanent fix may involve some fibreglass batting (stolen from the house ceiling).

Could also be a crook battery (less likely though). If you are in the NRMA, get them to come out and run a battery diagnostic on it (costs nothing as part of roadside assist).

Cheers,
Harv

[hogget]

Great build Finny been following for a while top job.As for your start problem check for voltage drop or earth problem?
Did you use the original steel braided fuel line from body to pump? this is the body to motor earth if not put a 6mm wire from the negative of the battery to the body
ie radiator bolt or the like,
Best of luck Rob

[Finny]

As for your start problem check for voltage drop or earth problem?
Did you use the original steel braided fuel line from body to pump? this is the body to motor earth if not put a 6mm wire from the negative of the battery to the body
ie radiator bolt or the like,
Best of luck Rob

Thanks Wayne, I had the starter checked by my cousin who is an auto electrician, it was OK a few months ago, but still had the same issue shortly after that. He has had a few issues lately, so I haven't bothered asking him for any further advice.
I'm looking for to Harvey Bay and putting faces to the many names I've know for several years.

And Harv, no clicky noise. The starter is engaging fine, it just doesn't have enough grunt to get it started when hot.
Battery is almost new, and I had the same problem when the previous battery was installed.

I think you may be onto something Rob, I do recall a mechanic once talking about poor battery connections breaking down when hot, something about checking for loss with a multimeter. No braided steel connection and I don't even recall seeing a body to motor earth on the car, I'll go and check that out also.

Next time it's struggling I'll run a wire from battery to body and motor, then I can confirm if that's the cause.

[Blacky]

Finny, I had a drama with an old Landcruiser once that did the same thing, the bolt holding the earth lead to the motor was tight, but the threads in the block and the bolt itself were both rusty. I ran a tap through the bolt hole and fitted a new bolt and it turned over like the plugs were out of it

[muza]

I had this problem with my landcruiser, 350 chev. Auto-lec changed the negative battery terminal and problem was solved

[Finny]

Earth lead, what earth lead.

Thanks again for feedback.
Negative on battery runs to bolt at front of engine, and the lead is a bit worn/loose at the connectors.
But there is nothing I can find that's earthing the engine to the frame, nor the battery negative to the frame.
And no braided fuel line either.
Would I get away with just running an extra earth from the battery to the frame, or is it best to strap the engine to the frame.
Don't want to make anything to messy or obvious.

[Harv]

Sounds like you already have a suitable circuit to run the starter:
battery positive terminal to solenoid
solenoid to starter
starter to engine block
engine block to battery negative terminal

Running an extra lead won't help this one (unless one of the above connections is loose, dirty or undersized). The extra lead only helps with things that earth to body eg:
Battery positive to dome light
dome light to door switch
door switch to body
body to braided fuel line (or in it's absence an extra lead)
braided fuel line to engine block
engine block to battery negative terminal

Cheers,
Harv

[WayneXG95]

Finny, there are 2 brush and 4 brush starters. the second will not have the hot starting problem. Come over and I will give you a good one and I will look over anything else.
Tim

[Devilrod]

Finny, there are 2 brush and 4 brush starters. the second will not have the hot starting problem. Come over and I will give you a good one and I will look over anything else.
Tim

[Craig Allardyce]

Finny a simple voltage drop test across the starter power circuit from the positive battery terminal to the terminal on the starter will show if the starter is at fault. If you see more than say 2 volts at the meter then there is an issue with the circuit or starter. Do the same test from the starter terminal to earth at the body of the starter and see what you get there. If above 2 volts then starter is the issue. If all is fine after that do a voltage drop test from the starter earth on its body to the earth terminal again. Same thing, if its high then there is an issue with earthing. Essentially if the voltage/current is trying to take a better path through the meter at a higher rate than normal then that indicates a problem in the circuit. My 2 volts figure is from memory, others may help out with a more accurate figure for a grey as I don't have my books at the moment.
Also have you checked to see if your timing is too far advanced as this can make for hard cranking especially when the engine is hot.

[Finny]

Finally back on line and typing again after having a little accident.

And it wasn't even related to the EK.
Cutting a metal strip off the roof of a carport, and right at the end I took one hand off the grinder to hold the strip as it started to come down.
Angle grinder with metal cutting wheel bucked and hit my forearm. Managed to cut four finger tendons and wrist tendon, but was really lucky that I didn't hit an artery, any bones or the major nerves. Haven't been able to do too much for the last few months.
Yes I could have avoided it, but it was just one of those unfortunate accidents
Have had a lot of time to reflect, but I was using all the safety gear, and the only thing that I should have done was get a second person helping me.
If it hadn't hit my arm it could have got my head or face, so again I was lucky.
Have finally been given the OK to drive again, but auto only at the stage, so the EK hasn't seen to many miles.
Now have a nice scar, and they added to it with the surgery.

Looking forward to the Nationals, and hope to get the wagon all in order by then.

[wot179]

Chicks dig scars.

[Blacky]