VN SS hard to start when hot

[MICKY B]

Hello my name is Micky i have a VN SS 5ltr commodore .
The car starts first time i turn the key every time when it is cold or warm.
When the car has been on a long run and i turn it off and try to start it again it is like i have a very flat battery and very slow to kick over . After a lot of persisentance and a lot of turning the key it will kick over and start .Can anybody give me some advice as to what might be the problem and how to fix it . I am a family man with two kids and it is very annoying to have this problem reoccuring so often .

[88GreenVN]

I'm in the same boat.

People have said starter motor or fuseable link and or too much timming.

I dont know which to do first.

[arty]

Hi Guys,

I'm not sure if this helps, but when I used to own a VN, mine did it when the car was hot.

It ended up being the crankshaft sensor.

[MICKY B]

Hi i have been told it is to do with heat around the starter motor iv been told to run another wire from the solinoide to the starter motor due to the age of the car the wires break down from heat ?

[88GreenVN]

Hi i have been told it is to do with heat around the starter motor iv been told to run another wire from the solinoide to the starter motor due to the age of the car the wires break down from heat ?

Hmm - then why would it work when cold - I dunno... Maybe I should just do it and see...

[Dum*P*ster]

If you guys can wait, tomoro morning i can have a chat to me buddies at work..They fix all sorts of car with a wide range of issues

[88GreenVN]

If you guys can wait, tomoro morning i can have a chat to me buddies at work..They fix all sorts of car with a wide range of issues

We can wait

[Renno]

Its more than likely your starter motor. When it gets hot there is more resistance (correct me if I am wrong), making it harder for the current to flow, thus making cranking harder as less power is being given to the starter motor.

[Dum*P*ster]

Its more than likely your starter motor. When it gets hot there is more resistance (correct me if I am wrong), making it harder for the current to flow, thus making cranking harder as less power is being given to the starter motor.

Personally I'd agree with it. BUT, i will still sus it out tomoro at work

[dirt drifter]

i agree, when my old HQ had a rebuild it would start fine on a cold start in the morning, once it warmed up the old starter motor had no chance turning it over. had it rebuilt by a mate and it was good as new, cranked over no matter what the temp was

[greenfoam]

The starters don't like getting hot when old , greenvn, the timing doesn't boot up untill after the car starts on an injected motor (all part of the charms of efi )

[HoZy]

Sounds like a hungry starter motor solenoid, When the solenoids start to get old, they require more voltage, and when they are heatsoaked, the windings dont give it enough "oomph" so it tends to feel like a flat battery.

[88GreenVN]

The starters don't like getting hot when old , greenvn, the timing doesn't boot up untill after the car starts on an injected motor (all part of the charms of efi )

I'll kick that mechanic in the balls next time I see him

[88GreenVN]

Sounds like a hungry starter motor solenoid, When the solenoids start to get old, they require more voltage, and when they are heatsoaked, the windings dont give it enough "oomph" so it tends to feel like a flat battery.

So I should start with the starter solenoid.

How much are they - ball park ?

[Dum*P*ster]

well..there right..

It's best to get a new starter motor..Apparently there notorious for doing that lol

edit- forgot to ask bout solenoid :P BRB

[dirt drifter]

i was told a while ago (i could be wrong) that if the solenoid is on its way out it wont 'kick in' when u hit the key. no power gets thru to the starter and it wont crank whatsoever. i went to buy one off an auto elec, told him my car barely cranked when hot and he said i needed a starter reco instead, i got a mate to reco it (new brushes clean the contacts etc) used the original solenoid and it worked like a brand new one

[88GreenVN]

So it may just be brushes then......

Getting closer

[MICKY B]

Hi guys the starter motor was rebuilt not so long ago, Dont know if anything was done with the solinoide though. Is there any way of testing or getting the starter and sol tested and if so where would be the best place to take it to .

[dirt drifter]

if the starter is fairly new i would start looking at the leads, making sure they are still in good nick, checking that there is a good engine to body earth etc

[centy]

mate when hot try wetting just the start and see if if fires easier then.
if so then start is th fault.
Fords had this problem big time and it was nearly always the starter.

[levymetal]

i was told a while ago (i could be wrong) that if the solenoid is on its way out it wont 'kick in' when u hit the key.

yeah i've got the same problem (there is a huge thread about this somewhere else, all amounted to nothing), and i called up an auto elec and he said that it wouldn't be the solenoid. apparently it's either on or it's off... it wouldn't 'slow down' the cranking as such. if it was buggered then it just wouldn't crank at all. that's when you need to give them a good wack to get it to start. but perhaps if the solenoid was only half working, then it wasn't letting all the current through? this is where i'm not really sure. the auto elec was set on the fact that it wasn't the solenoid though.

some people suggested a new starter fixed it. i was about to go buy one, but someone else posted in my thread that even a new starter didn't fix the problem for them. they said that running a new power cable to the starter and alternator instead fixed it. someone else said replacing the alternator fixed it. i don't understand how the alternator would affect the cranking though.

i actually did try 1 thing, a new battery. this fixed the problem for about 1 month. then it came back again. to me it appears that the starter wants to draw more energy when hot, and the battery just can't provide enough power to crank it properly. so i'm *pretty* sure that a new starter would fix the problem, and it'll have a new solenoid too so you don't have to worry about that. but nothing ever works for me which is why i just left it.

if anyone buys a new starter, make sure you get a gear reduction one

[MICKY B]

I can only fit the original starter motor back in my VN .When i had it out last time we tryed to fit a more modern starter back in but my extracters were in the way and it just wouldnt fit to do up the bolts by a wisker. Dam shame that.So had the old one re con instead and put back in .