Starter not turning m50 over

[ryan12590]

So, ive had my m50 swap sitting in my bay for about 3 days now, all wiring required is connected to starter and ignition

When i try to crank it over all i hear is a loud tick ( solenoid moving forward ) and then my voltage drops to 11.0v from a solid 13.0v

So far i have:-

swapped out the starter for a spare i had, no change

tried earthing the starter with jumper cables directly from the starter to an earth on chassis rails, no change

re-checked all wiring relating to the starter and ignition, i did have a push button start through a relay, but since have eliminated that as a possible cause also

I did have the flywheel skimmed before installing so i shouldnt have any clearance issues with that

Also i can crank the engine manually via the crankshaft hub bolt and a 22mm socket, seems a bit hard to start cranking but once its moving becomes easier
Im hoping that i havent torqued the connecting rod bolts to tight on re-installation, could that have this effect?
Im literally stumped on this one, it has to be either the starter not getting enough juice or too much resistance within the engine to crank over?

Any help will be much appriciated! and sorry for the long winded-ness!



-Ryan

[jrdeamicis]

You didnt follow spec on the rod bolts?

Take the spark plug bolts out. is it still hard to spin?

[joecassie]

check your grounds

[SwiftE30]

You didnt follow spec on the rod bolts?

Take the spark plug bolts out. is it still hard to spin?

definitely do this! this will eliminate some possible problems.

what power wire did you use to your starter?

[jrdeamicis]

You didnt follow spec on the rod bolts?

Take the spark plugs out. Is it still hard to spin?

[SwiftE30]

...

[ryan12590]

i used the torque spec of 27lbs, i aquired the bmw torque specs pdf recently and have since discover it was 20nm and 70 degrees torque angle, not sure of the overall torque this would achieve?




ground currently is a temporary, but adequate jumper cable from the block to the frame rail, surely this is more than enough to ground the starter, yeah?

im surprized i didnt think to remove the plugs, thanks for the tip!
ill head out now and give it a shot

[ryan12590]

power wire was the rather thick split tubed wire direct from the battery to the starter, ignition wire is the yellow/black with a switch between it and the thick gauge red wire, correct?

[ryan12590]

Removed spark plugs, still wont turn over..
i assume thats not a good sign! i have the engine crane that i used to install the engine for 1 more day, consensus is to remove the engine while its available?

-Ryan

[Adrian_Visser]

Clean the terminals on your battery, easy things first. The torque on your rod bolts should not compress the rod bearings onto the crank unless you have used the wrong size bearings, it should compress the con rod and cap together.

[ryan12590]

my thoughts aswell^
the extra compression on the bearing surely would not be enough to stop the starter altogether

will go ahead and clean the terminals with a wire brush and some baking soda, any other suggestions, gut feeling is that it isnt electrically related?

[ryan12590]

also, bearings are the same as when i purchased the engine, no scoring or signs of being worn

-ryan

[hwy84]

i used the torque spec of 27lbs, i aquired the bmw torque specs pdf recently and have since discover it was 20nm and 70 degrees torque...

Not related to your issue, but 27 lb/ft is WAY too little torque for the rod bolts...

The initial 20nm isn't much at all, but the 70 degrees, considering the thread pitch of the rod bolts, adds up to a fair bit of torque...

[328ijunkie]

^+1 my techangle reads around 70nm iirc when doing the +70 degrees.

So yeah your rod caps are gonna fall off. And i assume you didnt use new bolts?

apply 12v to the larger (bottom) starter terminal and see what happens.

[N2MYE30]

This sounds very similar to my 1st hurdle but I wound up being a dead battery. My cold cranking amps were too low to start the engine.