should there be another strap to the negative battery terminal on my '72 Eldorad

[dochawk]

As it's warmed up enough again, I set out again today to work on the 72 Convertible.

It's been a couple of years, but shouldn't there also be a woven strap from the negative terminal to the starter?   Or does that just go from the starter to the chasis?





At the moment, getting to the passenger side is thoroughly cramped, so I'd like it moving under its own power again.  The effort to push it back even a foot is significant.


At the moment, with a fully charged battery and a 200A engine start setting on the charger, the starter barely makes a click.

When I left off last year, it spun strongly.  (the engine would only run for a second or so, but I think it was actually out of gas!)

[35-709]

You have an obvious connectivity problem at what appears to be the positive terminal connection at the battery.  Removing the cable and cleaning both the cable connection end and the battery terminal thoroughly with a wire brush should improve your starting ability immensely --- do the same with the negative cable connector and terminal.  Surprised it even clicks.  Those cheap aftermarket cable connections that you are using are marginal at best, they should be nothing more than a temporary fix to get you home at which point they should be (have been) replaced with new cables with OEM type ends.

The negative cable should go from the battery to the frame up front --- another, woven (or not) cable, should go from a transmission mounting bolt to the frame.  Your shop manual should show you all of the ground locations, especially the major ones.  A ground from the starter to the frame is not stock but one from a starter mounting bolt to the frame can't hurt.  The mounting surface where the starter is mounted to the engine should be clean and free of paint on the starter and the engine mounting surface --- that should negate any need for a ground from the starter to the frame.

Edit: It would surprise me greatly if a jumper cable (or battery charger) could even work through all of the corrosion that is evident at that terminal. 

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

As the previous poster stated, the obvious problem
appears to be a completely corroded positive terminal.

Those clamps should be loosened, taken off the battery
and the posts & clamps thoroughly cleaned with a wire
brush and baking soda solution.  That will get the "white
powder" off which is acting like an insulator.  That's why
your car will not start.  Coat the clamp and posts with
silicone dielectric grease when reassembling.  That helps
prevent this problem.

You may wish to look into getting better battery clamps
to further enhance the battery performance.

Mike

[Scot Minesinger]

Also you probably have a bad starter to frame strap connection.  To see if this is problem connect a jumper cable from engine block to battery negative, and the car should start right up (or at least turn over) if that is your problem.

[dochawk]

Arghhh!!!   I really *have been away from this too long!

uh, [head smack, ], yeah, start with the corrosion.  [smack head again.]

ay-yi-yi!

I'm not going to be changing these posts, simply because when this battery goes, I'm going back to the side mount that it *should* have.   That, and I *really* want a black ground cable  .  I've put the black electrical tape to be able to tell them apart at a glance, but it still throws me at times. (and that's minor among the weird things that have been done to this car . . .

OK, never mind tomorrow; I'm going out to try and clean that now . . . but I don't think I can get to the door, and it's too late to mess with pushing the '97 back out far enough again.   [yes, both the '72 and '97 Eldorado started giving me inadequate juice to starter problems on the same day; on the '97, it's because, somehow, the spacer on the positive terminal isn't long enough any more, and spins freely with the bolt all the way in.]

[dochawk]

OK, just removed it.  Surprisingly, both the inner surface of the clamped the outer surface of the post were quite clean, at least once it came off.

And the square bolt that is supposed to stay still was 13mm, while the nut was 12mm . . .

But now I can't test, as the transmission and column lock are sticking, but that probably belongs in its own thread . . .

three steps forward, and two steps back . . .

[J. Skelly]

Richard,

I haven't had my '71 in 33 years, but I recall the braided ground strap going from the starter to chassis ground.  Remove the strap completely and clean the terminal ends real well, and clean the mating surfaces on the starter and chassis.  I found out the hard way once that there was corrosion between the strap terminal and the chassis.  It looked great from a visual inspection while on the car, but once it was removed, you could see some corrosion between the strap and chassis.  Don't just clean up the battery terminal posts since you still might have a bad ground like I had.

[dochawk]

I'm thinking to set my charger to the 200A engine start setting, and apply directly to the starter studs  to see if it spins.

Is there a downside to this approach (aside from having to get under there with poor access!).

[harvey b]

You need to get the car out in the open where you can actually do some work to it,it is doubly frustrating with a car that wont start and is hard to work on. ,put some gas in it and prime it with a small shot of gas,while you have a helper to turn the key,wiggle the post or terminal ends while you have the battery charger on 200 amps,it should make contact long enough to turn over to start.That should be enough to get it to run?. good Luck  Harveyb

[dochawk]

Before this, the problem was that it would only run for a second or so from the primed carb.

I finally knocked on the tank, and it was apparently dry.

I'm thinking of attaching just to see if that much juice causes it to start spinning or not.

But first, I need to make sure it's not in gear . . .

Almost 40 years ago, I limped my super beetle off the on ramp with the starting motor . . . I'd sure hate to see *this* starter kick when in gear . . .