409 chevy will not start when it gets hot

Old 06-13-2012, 05:29 PM
  #11  
TheYellaBrick
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Well he musta got it figgered cuz he ain't been back. We forgot to ask him if it would even rotate by hand. Like qiksix suggested it might be too tight tolerances.
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Old 06-15-2012, 09:04 AM
  #12  
roadkill2
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Originally Posted by Rigsby
I had the same issue on the last BBC in my 69 Camaro... it was correct V's, wiring looked good, I had a heat shield, etc... would start cold... but when hot & could barely even get a "click"/ or movement when starting. Bought a new mini starter. Upon taking the old starter out, I found that the starter motor base was not tight to the mounting plate... you could wiggle it some... just a little... I tightened it & used some Blue Loctite & never had that issue again. Good luck!
It wasn't the "loose' that caused the problem, it was the lack of an adequate "Ground" . . .
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Old 06-15-2012, 03:40 PM
  #13  
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An inadequate ground is the cause of a high percentage of electrical problems. I make it a habit to wire in a separate grounding circuit and run a grounding wire from every piece of electric on the car to a dedicated grounding block. The days of grounding to a sheet metal screw in the inner fender well are waaaaaay behind me ! Perfect example is that loose starter, as stated it was an inadequate ground. If there had been a dedicated grounding wire the 'starter' problem wouldn't have occurred. In that particular instance,however, a possible catastrophe was discovered before it happened. I've had the starter dragging on the ground experience, myself ! ops: ops:
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Old 06-16-2012, 07:35 AM
  #14  
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Way back when (Yeah, before the wheel was perfectly round) I was mentored in a little gas station/garage by an old WWII Air craft Mechanic. We're talking about the 6 Volt, cloth wrapped insulation stuff that required a Jillion Amps to do anything. My mentor always insisted that loose or dirty connections were the general bugaboo for most of the ills that befell customer's cars, and in about 80% of the cases, he was right. Back then, a good ground was just about anything that touched metal because of the Amp draw it would arc it's own connection.

Today, a good ground, through, usually, a ground wire at least as big in gauge as the feed wire is a must. Ignitions operate on millivolts, and draw lots of amps, so there's little chance of arcing a ground. And the days of a cheapie plug in connection is history. I use those really neat waterproof GM connectors on everything, including dome lights and crap like that . . They, and the water tight Bendix plugs are the only connectors I'd use on any thing . . On the ground side, I use a 1" braided ground strap between the engine and frame, and for all the body and firewall grounds, I have terminal blocks specifically for ground with 8 ga. wire going to the negative battery post . . On my street rod, the TBI system is grounded to a separate grounding block and goes (again) straight to the neg on the battery.

Damned electrical, no matter how simple you attempt to make it, usually causes more problems on a car than anything else. Drag Race cars are especially vulnerable because of the vibration and shock created by hard leaves. In-car videos we take shows everything in the car moving (and twisting) when you do a frame by frame of the start. The chassis and cage are about as rigid as you can make a 7.50 cert, and we're pretty thorough, but after watching a couple of videos, we began a little tighter maintenance program . . Electrical connections (specifically bolted or screw fastened) are subject to loosening as are the CO2 plumbing for the shifter and 'chute . . Just stuff you have to pay attention to so your weekend will be successful instead of becoming a headscratcher . .
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Old 06-19-2012, 03:20 PM
  #15  
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With electrical, "head scratching" has been a normal way of life for me. Combined with ADD (w/ the "H" too) & I am quickly in big trouble. I will pay EVERY time to con, bribe & beg someone to help me unless I have a painless wiring kit. On the flip side, can do a whole fuel set up carefully using all AN's & delicately building/measuring each thing to a perfect fit; but then my wiring will look like an abortion. Wiring is actually a personal curse from the pit of hell. I have shocked myself so many times that my brain has been programmed automatically to screw it up worse. Man I would rather play "Couples Bunco" (bad, bad bad) then crawl under the dash of a car with a cage & non sliding side bars... that is personal visit from hell for me. Other than that, wiring is really fun.
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Old 06-20-2012, 03:58 AM
  #16  
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i was never really good at wiring,but after mt wreck man i cant wire up a old 4 wire 8 track you know the ones with 1 hot, 1 ground and 2 speaker wires
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Old 09-07-2012, 04:15 AM
  #17  
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Default Re: 409 chevy will not start when it gets hot

First can you turn the motor by hand when its hot if not could be in the motor FIRST THING I WOULD TRY
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Old 09-07-2012, 09:29 AM
  #18  
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Back to square one . . Does the Starter Solenoid fully activate when the key is turned to "Start" ?
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