Replaced motor, now new battery acts dead?

[Motivatedfather]

Hello all! my motor died in my 71 westy, so I replaced it with a 2180cc. I figured that it would be a simple swap of take the old one out & put the new one in... but upon trying to start it, the motor turns VERY slowly as if the battery is nearly dead. I thought that may be the case so I replaced the battery, same issue. What could I be missing? New 009 disb, electronic ignition, dual 40 webers, same coil from the previously running motor. Any and all help would be appreciated!

[Bret2094]

Ive got a couple questions that could aid the diagnosis. not necessarily the right questions but could help us help you
1.Does the starter sit flush with the bell housing? It could be wedged in there funny and not be rotating right...or maybe it needs a new bushing.
2.Did the previous engine turn fine?
3.Have you tried turning the engine over without sparkplugs in it?


Bret
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1977 Westfalia Camper

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[Brian]

When you try to start it, how hot does the battery get?
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[GMATech]

Ground cable any good still?
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[TomWesty]

Is this a brand new engine? Perhaps the starter is not up to turning a tight new higher displacement engine with a perhaps higher CR. Clean and tighten all connections and the tranny ground strap and try again. May be time for a new/ rebuilt starter for the new/ rebuilt engine. Or maybe the good clean connection will solve it.
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[RunningRough]

[merlinj79]

As others have said, verify the engine turns freely w/ spark plugs out. I would do this before do anything else just in case the motor has issues. By freely I mean, you should be able to turn it with a wrench on the alternator nut but it might be stiff if it's a fresh rebuild.

Then check the starter mounting/alignment and all the wires/ground strap.

I'm assuming the starter came with the engine?

A 2100 would be harder to turn than a 1600, so you may just need to refresh the starting system wires or install a hot-start relay.
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[Motivatedfather]

You guys are awesome. I'll check those things and report back. The starter was old and this rebuilt motor is much more difficult to turn than the tired 1600, but it does turn freely.

[Motivatedfather]

1. checked & cleaned the ground strap & connections.
2. Bought a starter from FLAPS & installed

I bench tested the starter & it spins, but does not push the spindle part forwards. Going to take it back...

In the meantime, I hooked back up the other starter & now my key doesnt do anything! I guess I must have damaged a wire along the way?

[merlinj79]

[Motivatedfather]

i cleaned the crud off of the ground strap with a brush & that is still all good. I hooked everything back up how it was. There are 3 wires on the positive post of the starter, one yellowish wire that was on a small post towards the road and a black one on the small post facing upwards if that makes sense.

To test the new starter, I hooked it up to battery cables & then used a screwdriver to trip the solenoid.

[Motivatedfather]

i should also add that it does have a hot start relay, I kept everything as is. Does anyone have a diagram of how things go without a hot start relay? Should I remove that?

[SGKent]

unless you have an auto starter that has a nose and bearing on it to hold the spindle do not spin it out of the bell housing because you will damage it.

The solution to your problems lies in first making sure you can turn the engine by hand. With the plugs out and in neutral you should be able to turn the engine by hand with some stiffness but not unbearable.
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[jtauxe]

By the way, once you get it spinning, I would recommend following the engine break-in procedure in Tom Wilson's book. It's a bit counter-intuitive at first (at least it was for me) but I trust him. Run it some with no spark to get the oil running all around, then add spark and run the engine at high RPM for some 20 minutes. Worth the read...

Does anyone else here recognize this distinction: ?

motor: a device that turns electrical potential into mechanical energy (like a starter motor)

engine: a device that turns chemical potential (e.g. gasoline) into mechanical energy (like an internal combustion engine)

Perhaps I am being pedantic again...
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[Tcash]

71 wiring diagram

[Motivatedfather]

update: I took back the defective starter & replaced. Now the key works again & the starter "tries" to start the motor but same results. I'm charging the battery now. Maybe an, even new, starter isnt powerful enough to turn the motor with the higher compression ratio? The motor will spin by hand without plugs. Also, I replaced the cable from the negative battery post to the starter.

[Motivatedfather]

*engine, not motor... haha

[SGKent]

[Tcash]

Who did you buy the engine from?
If you have a compression tester. Do a compression test and post the numbers.
It may take a couple of batteries to get it fired up.
Only crank for about 4 seconds and wait a 1.5 minutes in between. To let the starter cool down.
As posted pull the plugs and crank it until the oil goes out. This also builds fuel pressure if you have a mechanical fuel pump.
A couple of tea spoons of gas down the carbs will help also.

Good Luck

[merlinj79]