FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Hello All,

The big day arrived and I went to fire up the car…

EFI check light went on, the fuel pumps whirred to life.  The clicking of relays indicating the nervous system of the machine was transporting the appropriate signals from brain to peripherals.

OK so now to hit the starter…
Click. The relay clicked… “click” the starter solenoid clicked… nothing else!? CLICK again… the silence was deafening!!

Battery was at full power having just been pulled off the charger, voltmeter was indicating a good 13 volts or so. The battery itself is a DIMM66 battery with gobs of Cold cranking Amps.  The starter is a Castle hi torque starter, brand new never used..hmmm.

I saw another car do this at the Nats… turns out it just needed some added boost.

Will go and get my portable jump starter and hit it then… I don’t think its anything more serious than that.
Anyway, just thought Id share this little story and invite any feedback or suggestions.

Cheers

Ed

hi ed its an exciting moment isnt it, i was going to start a post myself on this topic.
i started my little toy up for the first time in three years late sunday arvo. it was a nervous moment for me listening to the motor crank over anxiously watching the oil pressure gauge waiting for signs of life. nothing...... ??? ???
feeling the motor wanting to kick into life. keep cranking. fuels running through lines, remove oil filter check there's oil flowing, re-fill filter. crank agiain......getting closer then bang, bit of a cough and splutter and small backfire through carbies. :-/ :-/ ok now im getting worried still no pressure
one more time turned the key and whammy we have life ;D ;D
actually i was quite suprised how smoothly it purred into action. she just wanted to live.... let it sit there idling for a minute or two then happened to walk to the back and look for smoke when i noticed the battery  sitting in the boot, a brand new calcium sealed unit- 720 cold crank amps , showing me this little warning glow, whacked a multimetre on it, the alternator was sending back 15.8 volts. bugger.... :(  shut it down...... so ends the days fun. at least i got to hear the the heart beat start up and a promise of things to come. pick up a voltage regulator tomorrow and try again on the weekend

now just got to finnish the brakes soi can take this little puppy for a crawl around the block. then try and wipe the smile from my face.....

its a beautiful thing isnt it.... good luck with yours mate.
fingers crossed.

dean
what sort of ignition switch are you using cause this is what mine sounded like before i tried another switch. turns out the switch was faulty.....

HEy Dean,

sounds like fun!

it is nerve racking....

Im using a torana or GM column slide switch.

I will check the power up to starter solenoid again amongst other things.

Cheers

Ed

Hi Ed
        Try tapping the starter motor, or take the wire off the starter solenoid put another wire on and then touch the other end of that wire on the positive terminal on the battery. Sounds like the starter is stuck.

    Cheers Al

When I put the motor back in Jim a couple of weeks before the Nationals, I, too, turned the key in excited anticipation.  Motor cranked, fired once but didn't repeat the trick.  Wound it and wound it. Bugga.  ???  GRRRRR   >:(  Checked spark: OK; rechecked timing (static): OK; fuel: Nothing.  ???  Pipes off - blew back, suck it up - nothing. Put petrol in tank - engine started. Sweeeet.   ;D ;D ;D

I'd obviously driven the car into the garage a few weeks prior with only a cup of fuel left in the tank.  What's the chances of that?  I'd lost 3 hours driving my new motor because of that!!

Who's the goose?  (Rhetorical question - don't answer that!!)

Martin

Hi Ed
So I can expect a phone call in the next day or two?? Looking forward to finally hearing the beast roar again.
Sounds like a dodgey starter as Al said. Also, have you got a good connection between the block and chassis/battery negative? That can cause probs too.
Let me know how you get on...

Cheers
Tony

Hey Al,

Will try your trick, I may have caused a gear to mesh the wrong way or misalign when I adjusted the position of the starter motor to to clear the exhaust.

will also try bypassing the ignition switch as suggested.

Tony,

will have another crack at it on saturday.
the earth from motor to chassis should be Ok but will check again, I wire brushed all contact spots will also add some star washers for some bite.

so far all earth point sto chassis seem OK but I will check it regardless.

Martin,
I will put some petrol in the tank and see if it makes a difference too..lol


Cheers

Ed

I was just having a read (& a chuckle)over the big start-up.After about 3 years of work it was time- hit the key only the sound of the relay broke the silence--check the pump,check the earth-check the fuse,grab the hammer--tap-tap what a delight to hear that bloody noisy holley fuel pump sing into life!  OK we have fuel , try again, wweeaazzee, doesnt sound like a gear reduction starter, bring the l'cruiser over with its battery-try again the Chevy erupted into life.....for about  5 seconds,the noise & vibrations were enough to drop about 12 assorted hammers & tools off the shed wall & onto the floor!As if l wasn't shaking enough already,l shit myself & instinctively shut it off , mate l thought the whole thing had grenaded!Lucky it had half an exhaust system on it to tone it down a bit! My mate was checking things up the front end & saw the look on my face--he still thinks its funny!   Daz

Must be the time of year for it ! I too fired up a new engine last night .
My sparky mate didnt turn up to sort out the generator to alternator / red to grey wiring conversion and that just was not going to stop me ! No way !
So with only a hand full of wires which were roughly already pointing to the position they should be hooked up to and no light to do it in I managed to hook the oil pressure switch light onto the coil ???
After hooking another battery up to the positive side of the coil I earthed the starter across and wammo .

It takes a lot to beat the feeling of hearing all that effort roar into life I totally agree , And then add a couple of drinks to the equation and the sound straight out of the headers     orgh orgh orgh as Tim the toolman would say .

certainly sounds like alot of fun going on in garages around at the moment, i still get a smile across my dial when i think back two weekends ago when mine first coughed into life, i was jumping around the garage with a beer in hand yelling like a demented scientist, its alive its aliiiive.  ;D ;D ;D

now got to fix the brakes so i can drive the bloody thing :P

.. Got the beast started!!!!

Thanks to Dean (smithy)  for helping me trace down some electrical problems.
also thanks to Tony Catlin (ihad a v8) for all the V8 related info over time.
and all other forum users of course.

saturday (14.5.05)
car would crank but would not start.
Downloaded the fault codes thru the ALDL, and got a code 12 which is OK (good).
checked the wiring to fuel pumps OK.
checked wiring to coil.. It seems I have IGN1 and 2 where IGN1 does not power up during cranking (thnks for the tip Dean).
ran a test light over inkector, and checked pulse. OK
I jury rigged a power to coil during cranking.
still no start.
blew up my test light.. oops.
defeated... I went home disappointed.


Sunday 15.5.05
After a relaxing evening, good food, wine and an early night, today was looking good.
A quick buzz on the bike up to Dural in the fresh air was nice.

static timing was next port of call.
first remove the brake booster, made a special spanner to undo the dizzy bolt, then off with the valve cover.
TDC on #1 valves closed, the rotor button was pointing 180 degrees out... oops.
re-set the timing.
quickly whipped everything back on.

ignition ON. fuel pumps whirred, fuel pressure 45psi.. good.
hot wire to START.
whirr.. whirrr.. cough...cough.. VROOM..

the tacho kicked up,
the oil pressure jumped up.
the noise was UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
sat it between 2000-2500 rpm to run the cam in (Why does this need to be done?? I just followed the instructions, I'm assuming it hardens the cam surface?)

the motor besides being LOUD out the extractors, was running perfectly.. gotta love EFI.

opening the throttle body even a fraction would send the revs up immediately, at less than 10% throttle on 2 of the barrels the 4bbl WOT will be great!!!

anyway.. thought id share with u.

Cheers

Ed

wooohoooo nice one ed, and how long has it taken to get the grin off your face  ;D ;D.

its a nice feeling after a few years isnt it?
glad i could help out.
dean

Edddddddiiiiiieeeeeee,

Awesome mate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Cairns next week hey?

Well done.

Jason.  ;D

did you tape the sound off the engine for when your at home to listen too

cheers fat

Hey Ed.
Good to see you sorted out the problem.
Won't be long now before we see the ol' girl at a club run. Can't wait to see it in the metal.
Regards
Alex

Hi Ed
Got your mesage late last nite, "VROOM" is an understatment, UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!  is more like it!! You almost blew the *rse out of my answering machine! Man it was loud. Had a big smile hearing that, even the wife was smiling when she realised what it was.
Glad you finally got the thing running. Will be in touch
Cheers
Tony

thanks for the replies guys,

im looking fwd to crusing this car.

thats for sure.

Cheers

Ed