So i have a 94 pickup with 22re ... recently it has had symptoms which would indicate a dead battery .... very slow dragging start (will not start just turn 1/4 turn and stop bump the start another 1/4 turn or so and stop ... just like a dead battery. So i had the battery checked / load tested and it is perfect no problem . While this problem is happening I also tried jumping with another car and same problem, also disconnected the battery and just ran it off the jumped car same problem. At that point I pulled all the plugs and wanted to see if it was a compression issue with all plugs out motor still hesitated or drag when turning over .. not much of a change with all plugs out. Problem has happened when motor is hot or cold. Next thing I did is replace the starter ... Same darn problem (note that it is intermittent will go a week without issue then fail for a day or so) I can always push start it sometimes on my own motor seems to start right up when popping the clutch ....

Kinda out of ideas here all electrical connections are clean and making good contact. I have not removed the starter wire from its sheath to see if there is a problem there but I did ohm it out and it seems to be in perfect condition.

Anyone have any additional ideas?

 

"ohming out" the wire won't help if it's just degraded. Unless you have a very fancy 4-wire ohmmeter, you'll never be able to measure less than about 1.5 ohms. And 0.1 ohms is way too high to start.

So take advantage of what you have. Measure the voltage right at the starter connection while cranking. If it's less than about 6 volts when it won't turn, you have a wiring problem. If more than 11v (or so) while unsuccessfully cranking, it's more likely a starter problem. (Specifically, I would suspect the contacts in the solenoid, but you should have all-new with a new starter.)

 

Agree ... I do have a 4 wire meter at work ... I can borrow that tomorrow. I did measure voltage right at the battery and saw it drop to like 11.8 during a start attempt I can check at the starter tomorrow. Yes this is a new starter and one replaced was only a year old so thinking that starter is ok ...

 

Maybe I mislead you. A 4-wire measurement (if you're looking for 0.1 ohms) will have to have really good connections to the test terminals, or you just measuring the resistance of the test connection. At that point, what is the condition of the actual cable connection AT the battery and AT the starter? A good cable won't help if you have an (intermittently) loose (or otherwise bad) connection.

But measuring the voltage at the terminal post of the starter takes all that into account (it just doesn't tell you which part is bad).

Of course, you probably know all this stuff, at least if your work involves using a 4-wire meter!

 

Yea EE here ... My idea was to just check to see that I had continuity in the wire no real idea if it is just one strand of the twisted copper or what. I thought about using jumper cable as that wire .... taking it out of the loop.

 

That would work.

I agree that it sounds like an electrical problem. Like all such, it's just a matter of isolating each part to figure out the one that's flagging.

 

It was the ground wire ... was able to take jumper cable from ground to the block and motor starts 100% of the time. Tried cleaning ends but crimped end look corroded and could not get that clean .... will replace cable and report tomorrow but for now seems like the ground cable :-)