What causes hot starters to lack power?

[roadnotca]

I can't help but think part of the GM hot start problem is because the tech level of the solenoid is slightly better than horseshoes, those are huge diameters with very generous tolerances. Its like it was designed to drag or get cocked in there, just add heat.

 

[roadnotca]

So if Gisi has points ignition, there will be a yellow wire connected to "R" on the solenoid. Leave it on. This bypasses the ballast resister during cranking, for a hotter spark.
Thank goodness for electronic ignitions.

 

[y5mgisi]

hey guys sorry i never got back on last night. Anyways i do have HEI (the motor is a 76(or so im told) caddy 500 but it has flat tops, did they do flat tops in 76?) anyway. I wound up going the conversion done and it still starts too slow when hot Could it just be the fact that im using a reman starter on a re ringed 500cid motor with flat tops? BTW... THANKS! for all the help and links up to this point

 

[roadnotca]

500 cubes of high compression is probably too much for any old-style starter. There have been some posts about the new factory hi-torque starters, but it may be just as easy to get one from Jegs/Summit.

 

[diesel4me]

one thing..

Caddy and Chevy starters share the same bolt pattern,but Caddy's have a different starter drive (number of teeth is different)..I'm not sure if one of those mini "hi torque" starters for a Chevy will work on a Caddy flexplate..maybe they have them for Caddy motors by now??...

 

[wasted wages]

Another trick is to put a simple toggle switch inline with your distributor wire,,,Hit the starter,,get the engine spun over good and then throw the spark to it...I do this on mine to get a good fuel charge built up in the blower so it doesn't start lean and sneeze the pop off valve....

 

[y5mgisi]

Thats a good trick and ive been reding about that too but the whole thing for me is that i should have to do that you know? I mean clearly cadillac could not have sent cars off the assembly line like this so why do i have to deal with it you know?

 

[y5mgisi]

Oh yeah one more question is 4ga wire to small for what im trying to do?

 

[MattK]

Oh yeah one more question is 4ga wire to small for what im trying to do?

id go with 2. might as well do it well.

what condition are your current wires? are they routed well? i know mine had trouble when hot because the main lead was sooo close(sometimes touching) the header. once i replaced that wire, the hot start wasn't an issue.

 

[guido666]

You need not waste your money on all those fancy starters to solve your problem. I have a BBC 454, 10.4:1 compression with long tube headers. It put out so much heat [with the starter nestled snuggly between block and header] that I literally MELTED the solenoid housing on my first two starters. (Thank god for lifetime warranties at Advance Autoparts and hillbillies that don't care about taking anything back.) I didn't have the money for one of those fancy starters either [after spending it all on the engine], so I spent $25 at Summit Racing Equipment for a shot at one of the DEI Starter Shield wraps. It's some kind of woven fiberglass-like cloth, with aluminum foil affixed to one side that acts as a heat reflector. You wrap it around the starter and it Velcro's to itself [although I put a loop of stainless saftey wire around it just to be sure I didn't lose it]. It has cured ALL problems. The starter turns over nicely every time, even after exhaustive hot runs up continuous steep inclines and while towing. It works well enough that if you are careful you can touch the starter itself and it won't burn you. It keeps the starter cool even when the heat melted the starter wires [later on]. They also sell some similarly priced tubular wrap [for hoses or starter wires, etc.] that works the same miracle. Worth every penny, and you can save the big bucks for other goodies for the beast.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=DEI-010402&N=115&autoview=sku

 

[dyeager535]

You could also get some headers that are coated *inside* to keep them from radiating heat. Testing has shown major drops in outside temperatures when you keep the heat IN the header.

 

[guido666]

You could also get some headers that are coated *inside* to keep them from radiating heat. Testing has shown major drops in outside temperatures when you keep the heat IN the header.

On that note, you can also of course wrap the headers on the outside. I did this [a few months after adding the heat shield I mentioned above] and noticed significant changes in underhood temperatures. Didn't notice any of the performance increases they claim though, but I think the reliability increase related to not overheating under-hood components is worth it.