wierd hard starting problem

[yellow1995Cobra]

When im starting the car up.. It cranks fine and at one point it almost dies.. Like it seems that the starter really struggles at one point.. IT WILL start up though, but something deffinantly doesnt seem right.. Could it be just the starter or does someone have a good susgestion?

Thanks guys

 

[True 5.0]

How's your timing? Too much advance and the power stroke will try to spin the engine backwards.

 

[HISSIN50]

I'd be lookin at your ground cables. A bit of resistance (which is eventually overcome) can lead to an issue such as yours.

Good luck.

 

[1slow95]

I've had a couple starting problems with mine. If it cranks ok then locks, that could definitely be timing. If it starts fine when cold but struggles when warm, you've got either a bad starter, poor ground, or both.

Is your battery in the trunk? You probably need some extra grounds if it is. I ended up running a ground wire from the battery directly to the starter and haven't had any starting problems since then....Except when the battery goes dead

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Mike you hit it right on the head. It cranks good but locks up, then imediatly cranks good again, then locks, and so on.. Could the dist be 180 out? Or would it not start in that case?

Im having such a hard time reading the timing marks on my balancer.. Ill try messing with it some more today and get an update later.

 

[1slow95]

Mine was off one tooth and it did that. It would still run, and it sounded somewhat decent too. I've heard of people running with it 180* out too, but I've never experienced it so I can't help you there.

Two things you should already know but I'll go ahead and remind you. Make sure to pull the spout, I forgot to do that with mine and couldn't get the timing right at all. Also it's a good idea to put a line at 10* on the balancer. If you can't see that line then your timing is waaaay off. After I pulled the spout I could finally see the line so I knew how far off I was. Moved the dizzy one tooth and it fired right up at 7*.

Good luck man

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Well i finally got this issue worked out. I was thinking i had found TDC incorrectly or something.. SO i pulled the #1 plug and pulled the cap off the dizzy. Put my finger over the spark plug hole and found TDC again. The rotor was about 1 inch off. I pulled the dizzy and stabbed it in again. Fired her up and it started right up and idles NICE. I also picked up a "safe-tune" chip from my tuner, so im sure that helped with idling as well. But it sounds just right now and the hard starting issue is gone. So the timing must have been severly advanced like you guys mentioned. The balancer i have is sooooo hard to read i must have miss marked it. I still didnt set the timing for good, but it sounds 100 times better then it did.

Thanks for the help guys!