Won't crank over

[NCarolinaSailor]

My '95 'Hoe has a 350 TBI and has suddenly decided to stop cranking. I can crank it over by hand but it seems like the starter can't do it. Starter and battery is new and it all seems electrically good so it must be something in the motor dragging it down. While cranking on the starter yesterday it just happened to start and ran for a bit. When I turned it off then tried to start again there was no change so the motor can run it is just impossibly hard to start. Anyone had this problem or can think of what to check?

PS - Don't know if this is normal but while starting the oil pressure gauge goes all the way up - I don't know if that is the gauge or maybe the oil pump is involved in all of this...

 

[clkelley]

You said battery and charger were new, are the cables new too? Double check the cables to ensure everything is grounded and connected properly. You said you can manually start it, is that using something to cross the poles on the starter?

 

[lesterl]

Check your ground straps.

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

Everything seems to have plenty of voltage (from the battery and from the ignition when on). It sounds like maybe as the motor turns there are sweet spots where it goes faster and that is how it cranked that one time though I can't seem to make it repeat.

 

[clkelley]

Sounds like it isn't getting fuel really. Have you ever changed the fuel filter? Cleaned your throttle body, etc.

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

The engine isn't turning well... I don't think it is fuel related because if it was fuel it would crank fine but never start)

 

[clkelley]

It there any excessive rattling noise of any kind? You may have stripped some teeth off ot the flex plate or cracked the flex plate? I know I am all over the place with this. I had just one truck before that had a cracked flex plate on his Duramax and it had similar hard start issues, but even more so had the rattling, etc.

Then there is the starter itself, it may be having issues inside that are causing it to slip inside the unit itself?

Has this only happened once?

 

[lesterl]

Put a voltmeter on the battery, watch the voltage as you crank, should NOT drop below 9vdc..... otherwise the battery is probably bad.

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

So still no fix. I think it is hard to turn over by hand must be so hard the starter binds up. It turns it slow for a second then after a second or so it slowly cranks just a little and gives up again. This is all I can get it to do. Is there a way to find out for sure that it isn't the bearings on the crank or cam or if the pistons are binding or maybe a valve pushrod issue? I need to do something as at the moment it is dead in the water.

 

[lesterl]

What did you try to do to fix it?

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

I replaced the battery first since it needed one anyways then checked voltage to the starter which was good so I figured it might be the starter so that is replaced. Still nothing. It just dawned on me that maybe it is related to the oil pressure being maxed out when starting as I now see that oil is leaking past the filter. When I had the intake off I saw just how much nasty oil crude is inside this thing (looked like fudge brownie in there) is it possible for the oil pump or bypass valve to become so clogged that oil pressure becomes so high that the motor can't fight against it?

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

So I pulled the spark plugs out and the starter now stays cranking (Should I hear the flywheel "whering" as it spins?

Does this mean there is some sort of valve problem if the compression is keeping it from cranking?

 

[clkelley]

Honestly it sounds like vapor lock of sorts. Whether the thickness of the oil could cause this, I have never heard of it happening, but that doesn't mean much really. What COULD be the problem is a blown head gasket or cracked head that is causing problems, and this would also help to explain the thickness of the oil, albeit not the color. Usually when oil thickens up like that it has coolant getting into the oil.

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

I just attempted to run a compression check since the plugs are out. As soon as any plug is back in the starter drags a little. Two cylinders checked - 95PSI and 90 PSI (though I wonder if part of it is the starter isn't cranking fast enough even with only this minor load.)

 

[lesterl]

sounds like you got a head gasket issue, were the plugs wet?

 

[NCarolinaSailor]

most of the plugs have oily threads and one of the plugs was different than the others a 605 instead of a 25