Engine woes:
In my previous post, I mentioned that my engine ran for a bit...but since then, I have been living a tale of woe. Here is the story:
I took my turkey baster, gave the carb about a bulb full of gas and she started to sputter to life.....very exciting! It ran for a few seconds and then ran out of fuel (a thirsty beast it is). I gave it some more fuel out of the turkey baster....started to sputter to life again, ran for a few seconds and ran out of fuel. Figured that the fuel wasn't into the bowls yet so I did it one more time to see if she would run again and then came a sound that turned my stomach when I turned the key....
What did it sound like? It sounded like when you turn the key when the motor is running although my engine was stopped. I didn't dare turn the key again. What was that sound? Did the starter not totally disengage or something? Should I just wait and try again? It was turning over completely fine about 30 different times during my engine prep stage. Maybe I had a bad battery? That is often the culprit for starter issues. It was late at night and I figured I would sleep on it.
The next morning, I charged up the battery to see if the starter would make that awful sound again......It did... I went to the Hurricane Owner's forum and got great advice. I also deemed that it was time to call up the engine builder, Southern Automotive, for some advice. BTW: Southern Automotive has AMAZING customer service and tech support. I have called them with so many stupid questions...well...I am surprised they don't hang up on me. Susan always gets me in touch with a technician immediately when I call. Amazing.
Anyway, Southern Automotive walked me through a triage protocol for my situation. The good news is that they said the sound is horrible but the engine is probably fine (or at least I hope so).
Here were the steps that they suggested :
1.) Check to see if the starter is loose: The torque can wiggle the starter out of alignment and could need a "refresher tightening." I should see if it is loose, if it is, tighten and test the starter. If all is tight and sound persists, next step-
2.) The teeth on starter could be out of alignment on flywheel: Take a 15/16th socket and turn engine 1/4 of inch clockwise. Try starter again. If sound persists, next step:
3.) Remove starter and inspection of gearing: First, check the teeth on the flywheel. Sometimes the teeth are not beveled enough and block the starter gear. Also check for damage or missing teeth on flywheel. If not, inspect the starter gear. Check for damage and missing teeth. If no issues with either flywheel or starter, could be issue inside starter. Southern Automotive indicated that this issue is hard to test for and that a new starter might be in order.
Before I conducted the above protocol, I bought a new battery just in case my Optima was damaged (I forgot to post that I blew my entire ignition system by hooking up my battery backwards when I was in a rush! I had to buy a new one and reinstall!). Anyway, I wanted to make 100% sure that I had all I needed to conduct the protocol right.
I followed Southern Automotive's (SA) procedure. It turned out my starter self destructed (see pictures below). You will see that the gear split and the casting around the gear has a stress crack all the way around. When I inspected the fly wheel, it looked completely fine. No damage at all (but I didn't rotate it). I brought my starter back to the auto parts store and they replaced it no questions asked (except for a dirty look and a stupid question...but I'll let that be). This past weekend, I was able to install the new starter. I had also purchased a new battery from Sears and made sure it was charged. I made sure the starter was securely tightened, etc. When I went to start it, the motor was turning over...but it sounded like I was crushing rocks....almost like the gears were not meshing right (Which is possible if the gearing on the starter didn't match the gearing on the flywheel) Now one of four things is happening:
1.) I have another lame starter
2.) I am having alignment issues with the starter and the flywheel
3.) I don't have the right gear on the starter that works with the flywheel (184 teeth)
4.) Something major is wrong with the engine (Now like I said above, the engine moves. When I put the car in gear and roll it, the engine moves. Everything should be fine but I am not knowledgeable enough to tell. I am doing this by myself and learning as I go)
I called SA again to get some more advice. They told me that they have had bad batches of starters from Palladium (the maker of my starter) before and quite possible I received another bad one (they are all refurbished BTW...hence why they cost $50). The tech suggested that I consider a mini starter with a higher torque rating. I bought one today from Summit Racing. Before it comes, however, I will go through this list (suggested by Bill, Ryan and Burgs on the Hurricane Forum) to see what I can hear/tell:
1.) Remove the "new" starter and check for damage...do I see something similar? .
2.) Rotate the engine from the big bolt on the front pulley and make sure everything is free and not making the noise (note: will most likely take out plugs so I don't get compression, etc).
3.) Rotate the entire engine and inspect all the flywheel teeth:
4.) Check the clutch and throwout bearing position: is the bearing OK and still on the fork in the proper position?
5.) Check Transmission: Is sound coming from there?
6.) Check for debris in bell housing
7.) Why I am at it, check the OIL level :) Kidding. It is fine but I want to keep checking everything.
If all the above checks out, I will install the new mini starter. If I get a sound yet again, I am going to call in a professional. The Hurricane Owner Forum has been awesome but it is too hard to describe in writing. I am PRAYING that there is nothing else wrong with the engine.
Wish me luck
In my previous post, I mentioned that my engine ran for a bit...but since then, I have been living a tale of woe. Here is the story:
I took my turkey baster, gave the carb about a bulb full of gas and she started to sputter to life.....very exciting! It ran for a few seconds and then ran out of fuel (a thirsty beast it is). I gave it some more fuel out of the turkey baster....started to sputter to life again, ran for a few seconds and ran out of fuel. Figured that the fuel wasn't into the bowls yet so I did it one more time to see if she would run again and then came a sound that turned my stomach when I turned the key....
What did it sound like? It sounded like when you turn the key when the motor is running although my engine was stopped. I didn't dare turn the key again. What was that sound? Did the starter not totally disengage or something? Should I just wait and try again? It was turning over completely fine about 30 different times during my engine prep stage. Maybe I had a bad battery? That is often the culprit for starter issues. It was late at night and I figured I would sleep on it.
The next morning, I charged up the battery to see if the starter would make that awful sound again......It did... I went to the Hurricane Owner's forum and got great advice. I also deemed that it was time to call up the engine builder, Southern Automotive, for some advice. BTW: Southern Automotive has AMAZING customer service and tech support. I have called them with so many stupid questions...well...I am surprised they don't hang up on me. Susan always gets me in touch with a technician immediately when I call. Amazing.
Anyway, Southern Automotive walked me through a triage protocol for my situation. The good news is that they said the sound is horrible but the engine is probably fine (or at least I hope so).
Here were the steps that they suggested :
1.) Check to see if the starter is loose: The torque can wiggle the starter out of alignment and could need a "refresher tightening." I should see if it is loose, if it is, tighten and test the starter. If all is tight and sound persists, next step-
2.) The teeth on starter could be out of alignment on flywheel: Take a 15/16th socket and turn engine 1/4 of inch clockwise. Try starter again. If sound persists, next step:
3.) Remove starter and inspection of gearing: First, check the teeth on the flywheel. Sometimes the teeth are not beveled enough and block the starter gear. Also check for damage or missing teeth on flywheel. If not, inspect the starter gear. Check for damage and missing teeth. If no issues with either flywheel or starter, could be issue inside starter. Southern Automotive indicated that this issue is hard to test for and that a new starter might be in order.
Before I conducted the above protocol, I bought a new battery just in case my Optima was damaged (I forgot to post that I blew my entire ignition system by hooking up my battery backwards when I was in a rush! I had to buy a new one and reinstall!). Anyway, I wanted to make 100% sure that I had all I needed to conduct the protocol right.
I followed Southern Automotive's (SA) procedure. It turned out my starter self destructed (see pictures below). You will see that the gear split and the casting around the gear has a stress crack all the way around. When I inspected the fly wheel, it looked completely fine. No damage at all (but I didn't rotate it). I brought my starter back to the auto parts store and they replaced it no questions asked (except for a dirty look and a stupid question...but I'll let that be). This past weekend, I was able to install the new starter. I had also purchased a new battery from Sears and made sure it was charged. I made sure the starter was securely tightened, etc. When I went to start it, the motor was turning over...but it sounded like I was crushing rocks....almost like the gears were not meshing right (Which is possible if the gearing on the starter didn't match the gearing on the flywheel) Now one of four things is happening:
1.) I have another lame starter
2.) I am having alignment issues with the starter and the flywheel
3.) I don't have the right gear on the starter that works with the flywheel (184 teeth)
4.) Something major is wrong with the engine (Now like I said above, the engine moves. When I put the car in gear and roll it, the engine moves. Everything should be fine but I am not knowledgeable enough to tell. I am doing this by myself and learning as I go)
I called SA again to get some more advice. They told me that they have had bad batches of starters from Palladium (the maker of my starter) before and quite possible I received another bad one (they are all refurbished BTW...hence why they cost $50). The tech suggested that I consider a mini starter with a higher torque rating. I bought one today from Summit Racing. Before it comes, however, I will go through this list (suggested by Bill, Ryan and Burgs on the Hurricane Forum) to see what I can hear/tell:
1.) Remove the "new" starter and check for damage...do I see something similar? .
2.) Rotate the engine from the big bolt on the front pulley and make sure everything is free and not making the noise (note: will most likely take out plugs so I don't get compression, etc).
3.) Rotate the entire engine and inspect all the flywheel teeth:
4.) Check the clutch and throwout bearing position: is the bearing OK and still on the fork in the proper position?
5.) Check Transmission: Is sound coming from there?
6.) Check for debris in bell housing
7.) Why I am at it, check the OIL level :) Kidding. It is fine but I want to keep checking everything.
If all the above checks out, I will install the new mini starter. If I get a sound yet again, I am going to call in a professional. The Hurricane Owner Forum has been awesome but it is too hard to describe in writing. I am PRAYING that there is nothing else wrong with the engine.
Wish me luck
posted by Khan Smith at 2:43 PM
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