I am finishing up a project where I swapped a 4bbl 350 into my 89 camaro in place of the 2.8 that was in there. Everything electrical seems to be working fine except when I try to start it, it only turns the engine very slowly (like once a second) and does a LOT of clicking. The starter is brand new and appears to be wired up correctly. The only other thing I noticed is that the voltmeter in the dash drops from 12.5 volts before turning the key to almost nothing when the starter engages. Any ideas?

 

too much timing, try turning the distributor

 

Or, bad battery, bad connection, bad battery cable.

 

I took the battery out of the loop and tried starting it off another car that was running. Still no luck.

 

how does timing affect the starter turning the engine? I hadnt considered that at all.

 

The timing affects it, if it's advanced too much, by lighting off the mixture before the piston reaches TDC, and driving the piston back down before it reaches the top, thereby turning the engine .... backwards.

Jumping a car without a battery off of another car is just about guaranteed not to work. There's way too much resistance in a set of jumper cables for the amount of current that has to pass through them. Try re-installing the car's battery, paying special attention to make sure the connections to the cables are clean and corrosion-free (try some baking soda as a cleaner); then charging the battery for a while, then jumping the car with its own battery properly installed and another car hooked to it.

 

I am also confused here, what does the timing have to do with the speed of the engine turning over during the cranking process. I can understand the engine failing to start because of improper timing, but the engine would still turn faster than 1 revolution per second unless the battery was weak, the starter was not properly shimmed, or the valves were too tight.

 

You've obviously never had a large-cubic-iinch engine with high compression (no, some little 350 or 383 doesn't count) and too little starter.

Like I said before, if the timing is too far advanced, it will light off the mixture while the piston is still coming upwards (that being the definition of "advanced timing") and can generate enough cyl pressure in a large high-CR engine that the starter can't continue to turn the engine forward. In severe cases it will actually kick the engine backwards. Even if all it does is to basically stop the motor until some of the pressure bleeds down enough to allow it to continue turning, it's tough to start a car that way.

In any case, I doubt that this is the problem Rump is asking about... his deal sounds like a dead battery or really badly corroded cable terminals or both.

 

No, obviously I haven't unless you want to consider an R-985 as a large-cubic inch engine with a high compression. Other than that, I guess I will have to stay with my little 350. Sorry!!!!!!!!!!

 

Uh, OK, a Pratt R-985 is a big engine but you're having trouble making the connection here.

What RB is trying to explain, in aviation terms, is why you don't curl your fingers around the prop edge when hand-starting a radial engine...if the engine fires with a piston BTDC, the prop will kick back and mess up your fingertips bad.

On a car engine, the result is slowing or stopping the rotation of the starter motor.

 

okay, after I posted that response I figured out what you meant. I havent even got there yet in the starting process. The fuel pump is mechanical and the engine is trning so slow that no fuel is making up to the carb. LikeI said, only one or two turns of the engine before I stop cranking. I will check the resistance in the battery wire. Havent done that yet. Also, I have been thinking about putting the correct battery in there and trying it again. I wasnt sure about the jumper cables. Thanks for the advice. I will keep trying and let everyone know how it goes.