I have 13.2:1 compression, and i have run through a dozen or more starters since 2005 when we built this stroker. Does anyone know of any company out there that makes a high torque performance starter for the S? I am about to buy yet another starter, and would like to see one last a few years. I believe part of the problem is heat. When i drive the car long enough to get everything up to operating temps, (normal temps, nothing on the hot side of normal), if i shut the car off, it will not start until it cools down for at least 25-30 minutes, it will turn over real slow like the battery is dying. Before anyone chimes in, battery cables are in great shape, battery is new yellow top optima and stays on the charger/conditioner when not being driven so it's always fresh like a new battery since i don't drive it as much as i used too...connections are all tight and torqued, grounds are making good contact. It has been suggested that i run a relay so the solenoid gets more amperage, like the old school muscle cars used to do. I am thinking if i can't find what i am looking for, i will just buy a new OEM starter and wrap it with thermo wrap to provide a little heat protection...

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated...there has got to be somebody out there making a better starter for these cars.

 

A starter with more available torque may help but Optima batteries are notoriously poor batteries for starting (and just about everything else). Just don't have the cranking amps in my experience (nor much reserve capacity). Quick way to tell is to jumper it to another battery and see how the car starts. Cables from the battery to the starter should already be pretty robust as starting is the main task of the battery. Won't hurt putting bigger cables in there. And a better battery.

A simple voltmeter and someone to crank the car while you look at the voltage drop will provide clues. Measure at the battery and at the starter.

-- Chuck

 

Had a similar problem on my winter beater e30. Bad mechanical ground. Jumped a ground wire straight to a bolt on the starter and solved the problem.

Not saying that is your issue here but it is really easy to try

Good luck

 

I'm going to side with the battery on this one. Here's an even easier trick without the use of a DMM, when it doesn't start the next time, jump the car and see if it works. If it does then it's probably the battery not supplying enough voltage.

I had a similar issue with my car, I popped in an interstate battery instead of my yellowtop (just under 1 yr old) and even that worked. Almost identical parameters as you, although mine never had anything to do with engine temp.

 

Are you one of those people that will just keep cranking the car until it starts?

Are you running an aem series 1? I used to have that issue when I first went turbo. Every time I would stop, I would have to pop the hood for a solid 10-15 minutes and let everything cool down before it would start. It did the same thing with the slow turn. Told my tuner about it and he messed with the safety parameters and it was good after that.

 

^^^^ I had the same issue when I ran turbo and AEM. Shit wouldnt start after I would drive it and then park it. Wasnt the starter.

For the past 2 years my 13;1 motor has had no issued starting with K-pro.

 

Same issue on my K24, Seems to eat a starter every 6 months. I added a jump spot and when the motor is cold I start it with a jump box added to the normal battery. Seems to solve the issue.

 

If it didn't start by the third turn over, then it's not going to start so there's no point in killing it, it's either right away or not going to start...i have a series 2, the smaller compact AEM...I had starting issues when we first built the stroker, my tuner/engine builder moved up to Virginia so i had a local guy Alpha redo the timing map, never had those issues again, now it seems i have similar as you guys have had...i hate to think it's the battery, yellowtops are expensive, and the one i have has like 750 cca...i bought a new starter and some DEI versa-shield heat wrap...i let you know how long that last...

 

do you know what safety parameters were tweaked that solved your problem?

 

Well mine just killed starter number 5 or 6 last night. This starter lasted a whopping week. I'm going to jump to a higher CCA battery and also (being a race car) wire in a new starter toggle switch to give more power. It appears to be a Power issue (since moving battery to trunk and sending battery though a kill switch). I added a wire straight off the starter to give me a jump location under the hood and as long as I used a jump box I could keep the starters alive. But I got cocky for the last week as it had been starting every time with the new motor. Doh.