Bad Cable or Bad Starter Solenoid?

[tzei]

48 minutes ago, Mark92131 said:

Wouldn't the three mounting bolts provide an adequate ground path for the starter motor?  I'm trying to isolate the aluminum mounting surface from the heat of the block, (thin fiber washers or paper gasket?), to see if that helps or fixes the issue.

Yes mounting bolt provide ground alright. Insulating wont fix it. Either ground (engine - chassis) is bad or starter is dying (or both).

[Son of Marty]

4 hours ago, Mark92131 said:

I'm going to pull the starter next weekend and replace it.  I'm thinking of using some thin fiber washers to isolate the starter motor from the block (phenolic spacer) to reduce the possibility of heat reaching the starter and solenoid.

 

Mark92131

I don't think you're adding much heat into the starter from the mounting end, the starter lying along side the block will be soaking much more heat into motor than from the end theres a good chance the mounting is pulling heat out of the starter. Check with Jeg's or Pegasus for a started blanket to shield it. But all of this is on the cool side of the block and none of those parts should get that hot.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Son of Marty

[takeyourmarx]

59 minutes ago, tzei said:

If battery is in trunk those(?) main 12v feed(s?) is way too thin. Wire loom looks like it’s crying to ”please somebody put me out of my misery!”. At some point (like now) u need to adress that. There seems to be fixes of fixes - get rid of those asap. Take a fresh proper gauge wire from battery to starter 12v pole (and battery ground). Solenoid has a spade or m6 connector to turn it on. You can jump it with a screwdriver from 12v pole to turn (car in neutral, mind you) to see if works or not and go from there. All will be futile if main feed to starter and battery & engine to chassis ground is questionable.

 

Those aren't the main feed. There is a thick 00 or 2(?) gauge behind those smaller ones on the solenoid post, you can see it in the first pic and very left corner of pic 2. The ground in the trunk is also as thick. That would indeed be insane haha.

Edited August 9, 2023 by takeyourmarx

[jimk]

3 hours ago, Mark92131 said:

I'm trying to isolate the aluminum mounting surface from the heat of the block, (thin fiber washers or paper gasket?), to see if that helps or fixes the issue.

Temperature there is no more than the coolant temperature.  I would expect all the components in the area are designed for at least 250F.