Need help with starter not working

[WayneT1972]

The attached PDF is a snippet of the Shop Manual for 1973 Fords. It shows a lot of information about the primary ignition system wthat may be of use to you.

I have a '72 351c THAT SAT, that I have replaced the battery, starter cable, starter relay, and starter. I have cleaned grounds and verified tight connections, yet all I get is starter relay chatter as if the battery is low. I have bypassed ignition switch using remote starter, same chatter but no crank. I have tied a ground to the starter, still chatter from starter relay but no turnover. I have removed plugs and can turn crank by hand. Distributor is removed. Just pulled new starter to have it tested. Have tried 3 new batteries from my other vehicles - all same results. JUST LOOKING TO GET THE STARTER TO TURN THE CRANK RIGHT NOW.
ANY HELP APPRECIATED.

 

[Hemikiller]

First - the starter solenoid must be grounded to the fender apron for it to function properly. The other issue is do you have a battery to apron ground path? Attach a wire from the Battery (-) terminal to a handy fender apron bolt and try again.

Pic below is the factory battery cable path, the lug secured by fastener #9 is the *only* battery to body ground in the vehicle. If it's missing, it will cause a myriad of electrical issues.

 

[darb_123]

Sounds like you may have the wrong starter. Auto vs straight transmission starter , also possible flywheel-starter mismatch. Pull flywheel inspection pan with car on lift or on jack stands. While someone is trying to start, make sure the starter is engaging the flywheel teeth. It may not be engaging or may be engaging and binding where it is a mis-match in flywheel teeth. There are multiple starters for the Auto vs Manual transmissions, also two different flywheel teeth count.

 

[WayneT1972]

Sounds like you may have the wrong starter. Auto vs straight transmission starter , also possible flywheel-starter mismatch. Pull flywheel inspection pan with car on lift or on jack stands. While someone is trying to start, make sure the starter is engaging the flywheel teeth. It may not be engaging or may be engaging and binding where it is a mis-match in flywheel teeth. There are multiple starters for the Auto vs Manual transmissions, also two different flywheel teeth count.

First - the starter solenoid must be grounded to the fender apron for it to function properly. The other issue is do you have a battery to apron ground path? Attach a wire from the Battery (-) terminal to a handy fender apron bolt and try again.

Pic below is the factory battery cable path, the lug secured by fastener #9 is the *only* battery to body ground in the vehicle. If it's missing, it will cause a myriad of electrical issues.


View attachment 97862

I have pulled the starter and placed along side the car. I also added a #6 ground from the battery to the starter relay fender mount. Even with the starter on the floor when I engage the starter, the battery volt drops to about 6v under full load and the starter relay cycles / chatters. 12v relay so it cycles. No starter load and relay is solid function. This is true with orig and new starter. I have 1.0 guage ground to the block. This would seem to be a weak battery but I have tried 2 new batteries outputting 1000amp cranking current.
The old starter out of vehicle I could at least see it try to spin, although slowly.

 

[rvrtrash]

With everything you've tried, I would think about a bad starter relay. I've heard some of the new ones are garbage. It's kind of redneck, but what I've done to test the theory is put the starter on the ground, put my foot on it to hold it in place, use jumper cables from the battery, positive to the stud and neg to one of the starter ears. Clamp the neg last, because it will spark. If the starter spins, you have a bad cable or relay, most probably the relay.