Hello all,

I swaped an LT1/T56 into my 91 camaro and the other day i tried to give it a few cranks to prime the oil system before the first start and all i got was a click, and a really slow crank or two on the motor.

First, let me tell you the stater i am using is off of my 91 LB9. I got my battery tested and it passed, i get a consistent 12v from it. Let the battery charge over night, and the best i can get is about 3 or 4 slow cranks out of it.

Could the issue be that this starter just cant handle the higher compression of the Ltx motor?

My other thoughts were bad connections with my battery cables. Ive thouroughly cleaned the terminals and grounds for the cables, and i gave them a few good yanks to maybe break up the corrosion (if any) on the inside of the cable. The cables are not getting hot.

What do you guys think?

 

Id just get a remanned LT4 starter, higher torque and smaller for better header clearance. GMpartsdirect sells them for like 150ish I wanna say. Assuming your fuel pressure is good then I would think a starter could be the problem

 

Before you go out and buy more parts you really ought to recheck your wiring. Verify that the battery is well grounded to the fender or subframe, both battery connections are tight, ie you should not be able to twist the cables at the battery terminal. And that the engine has the braided wire ground strap attached from the block to the firewall.

 

I have measured the resistance on the grounds with a ohm meter and i have good continuitiy.

The braided ground strap is currently bolted to my firewall and a stud on the intake. Would this give a good ground?

 

Sounds like a lousy ground to me. Ground it to the block or frame. If the battery is "good" and the connections are "good" I see no reason you shouldn't get started. Obviously you are not getting enough power to the solenoid to turn the starter. I' suspect the battery or connections, but you say the battery is good and the conncections are good. I do however question grounding the battery to the firewall. The ground to the intake mainfold should work, but I'd still try getting a better gound. And, no matter how good you think your battery is, unless it is well within the warranty period, the battery is usually the main problem with not getting enough juice to the starter. JMHO

 

I have a new battery at the house, i will give it a try.

I have the battery cable grounded to the block the lower right corner. I scraped all the paint off. The only thing as far as grounds that i could see being wrong is a coroded cable.

 

Corroded cables not good.

 

bought a vette starter and it cranks like a champ now!

 

LT4 starters are sweet, I have one. Sounds cool too.