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Hot Start Issues


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What do you guys do to keep your starters from heatsoaking? Everywhere on the web seem to be hit or miss with some fixes working for some and other fixes working for others and some people not even having their cars running right in the first place.

A little background:

I just finished a vortec 350 swap into my '76 Z using the full JTR catalog. I have wrapped block hugger headers and wrapped exhaust (except for the flange where the two meet which is right beside the starter). The starter is a stock GM unit. The vehicle the engine came out of never ran into any of these issues (got it from my father for free); it was however in a truck with long tube headers and thus more airspace around the starter.

The car will start up perfectly when cold. Choke and everything work perfectly. Runs like a top no issues driving down the road for 2+ hours. It won't however even crank when hot. Just get the click from the relay. I get a voltage drop from 12V to 9V upon start. Does this signal a bad battery (although it cranks perfectly after sitting for a month)? Or just a rise in resistance in the starter with heat?

So is it as simple as one of those starter wraps, should I look at smaller starters, New starter solenoid?

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My Z has used the same CSR mini starter for 16 years without ever failing to crank. However, I'm using a Ford remote mount solenoid that is mounted away from the starter and in a low heat location. This has worked despite high underhood temperatures created by twin turbos.

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I had heat soak issues with my old 350 but fixed that with a gear reduction starter. But on my LT1 I went with the Ford solenoid. Research will tell you the problem is not the stock GM starter but the small wire feeding the stock GM solenoid. As the solenoid get hot it will require more current to activate it and the "normal" small gauge wire on the S terminal can not support that higher current and the voltage drops. Using the Ford system I use that small wire to activate the Ford solenoid, ran an 8 gauge wire from the battery to the input of the Ford solenoid and another 8 gauge wire from the output of the Ford solenoid to the S terminal on the GM starter. That way you will always get a real 12V at the starter. The Ford solenoid is around $25.

Edited by deja
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