Car doesn't want to start, barely turns over...

[88POSLX]

We tried to fire my brother's car this weekend. The motor is fresh and we just finished a T5 to C4 swap. The car has sat for a couple years now.
When we first tried there was nothing, power windows were sluggish too, so we assumed battery. We boosted the trunk mount battery and it didn't seem too much better. It did turn over enough to get good oil pressure but just didn't turn very fast. I then moved the booster cables right up front to the solenoid and grounded at the motor. She turned over better, but still seemed sluggish. Tried the distributor at every possible combination of TDC possible but didn't get it to fire... got a couple backfires though.

This morning we replaced the old battery with a new Optima and when you hit the key the starter would engage but it was if the motor was too much to turn. The starter would go, then a pause for a second and then the motor would slowly start turning.

The motor isn't that hard to turn over, I can do it by hand with everything hooked up. Is it just a bad starter, or do you think it's more than that?


I tried to provide as much detail as I could, but if you need more let me know. Thanks for any help

 

[Mustang5L5]

Clean all the connections from the battery up to the starter solenoid. WHen there is corrosion or something is loose, the battery can seem weak

 

[jrichker]

Here's a checklist:

Check battery, terminal connections, ground, starter relay switch (also known as solenoid) and starter in that order.

A voltmeter is handy if you are familiar with how to use it to find bad connections. Measure the voltage drop across a connection: more than .5 volts across a connection indicates a problem.

1.) Will the car start if it is jumped? Then clean battery terminals and check battery.

2.) Check the battery to engine block ground, and the ground behind the engine to the firewall.

3.) Check the cables for cracks in the insulation, and corrosion around the wire where it joins the connector. Look for swelling of the cable’s diameter which would indicate corrosion inside the cable. Bending the cable can often reveal corrosive damage inside the cable when the outside looks OK.

4.) Then pull the small push on connector (red wire) off the starter relay (Looks like it is stuck on a screw) and jump it to the terminal that is connected to the battery. If it starts, the relay is good and your problem is in the rest of the circuit.

5.) Remember to check the ignition switch, neutral safety switch on auto trans and the clutch safety switch on manual trans cars. If they are good, then the relay is bad.

6.) Jump the big terminals on the starter relay next to the battery with a screwdriver - watch out for the sparks! If the engine cranks, the starter and power wiring is good. The starter relay is also known as a starter solenoid.

7.) The starter may be hung, loosen up the bolts that hold it on, and give it a good whack with a big hammer. Tighten up the bolts and try again.

8.) If that doesn't work, use a jumper cable from the positive lead on the battery direct to the starter post where the big wire from the relay connects. If it cranks then, it is the power wire from the relay gone bad. This will be hard to do, since there isn't much room to do it.

9.) Pull the starter and take it to Autozone or Pep Boys and have them test it. Starter fails test, then replace it. If you got this far, the starter is probably bad.