My old crawler has always taken a lot of battery to turn over but last year with 3 car batteries in parallel it started pretty well cold and I got a lot of use out of it.
Tried to fire it up yesterday after winter and was unable to get it to turn over more than 2-3 revolutions. I had 3 car batteries on it again, each one able to start a car with ease, two sets of heavy cables bolted to the starter and engine and my truck running with jumper cables, every battery showing 14+ volts.
I would love to pull the starter and have it tested but the roll cage is in the way. I was able to pull the end cover off and remove one brush. Everything looks to be in great shape. The commutator was black but a quick wash with brake clean and it was back to nice smooth copper.
I tried jumping straight from the battery pole on the solenoid to the starter pole with a wrench. Just about welded it on but still cranks the same. If I remove the cable from the battery pole and touch it direct to the starter pole it runs the starter motor without engaging the bendix and it runs nice, smooth and fast. Also with the cover off I was able to turn the armature by pushing it with a stick, turns freely and smooth.
Apparently there are clip on amp meters that can tell the current draw while cranking, maybe that would help isolate the trouble.
The factory battery for this thing is huge - 20 x 8.5 x 9.5" and weights 120 lbs. and rated at 143 20 hour rate (what does that mean in CCAs?). Would a new group 31 950 cca battery suffice? It's a 4 cylinder diesel. The starter is 4hp.
Could I possibly be not supplying enough battery?
Tried to fire it up yesterday after winter and was unable to get it to turn over more than 2-3 revolutions. I had 3 car batteries on it again, each one able to start a car with ease, two sets of heavy cables bolted to the starter and engine and my truck running with jumper cables, every battery showing 14+ volts.
I would love to pull the starter and have it tested but the roll cage is in the way. I was able to pull the end cover off and remove one brush. Everything looks to be in great shape. The commutator was black but a quick wash with brake clean and it was back to nice smooth copper.
I tried jumping straight from the battery pole on the solenoid to the starter pole with a wrench. Just about welded it on but still cranks the same. If I remove the cable from the battery pole and touch it direct to the starter pole it runs the starter motor without engaging the bendix and it runs nice, smooth and fast. Also with the cover off I was able to turn the armature by pushing it with a stick, turns freely and smooth.
Apparently there are clip on amp meters that can tell the current draw while cranking, maybe that would help isolate the trouble.
The factory battery for this thing is huge - 20 x 8.5 x 9.5" and weights 120 lbs. and rated at 143 20 hour rate (what does that mean in CCAs?). Would a new group 31 950 cca battery suffice? It's a 4 cylinder diesel. The starter is 4hp.
Could I possibly be not supplying enough battery?