Slow Cranking when Hot!

Hi Fellow Transport Friends!

Our 95 TS 3.8 runs hot. I dislike the 195 Thermostat, but winter is coming.
Temps can soar to 230 on gauge, with no air.(Now I remember why I had a 180degree thermostat).
I recently replaced a rebuilt delco starter that was about a year old.(faulty solenoid). I cannot recall if the Slow crank problem was there prior. When 230 degrees, intermittently I get a slow crank with dimming of dashboard lights, but bright headlights.
1. I know that the temps are supposed to swing a lot with this vehicle, but 75 degree days, 230 degrees when in heavy traffic is pushing it.(gauge). Is this normal for 195 thermostat?

2. Possible bad windings on new rebuilt starter? Armature drawing excessive amps when hot? Battery cables look okay, but original.
3. Considering a NEW starter and a heat reflector wrap for starter. New battery cables-thicker cable if possible(used welding cable for my old 421S.D. :-)

Appreciate your thoughts on this one. My daughter is away at Northwestern College, and it is a ride to get there if the starter quits.:shakehead

I would not wrap the starter in anything.

Dang Kev....

Sounds like the starter is gettin pissy...

But the battery cables on the van are decent.... Only problem I have with this system is the way the charging circuit is ran... 140 Amps on 2 dinky wires bolted to the starter pole, yes thats right, the charging circuit is ran to the starter pole and back to the battery... I had charging issues and ended up finding the wires had cooked...

I ended up using a Dual Terminal battery, and on the top post I ran a 4Ga from the alternator to that post on the battery... all of my problems were then solved...

I think for your first steps you need to make sure the Positive cable is free of corrosion.... If thats all good, then you need to check the cables at the starter...

From there load test the battery... If all of those check out, then the starter may not be soo good..

Hi Guys!

Well the intermittent starter slow cranking issue had progressively became more frequent. This time, I bought a NEW starter from a company called quality. Fun putting that heavy starter in. With the first crank, I was very impressed. I would not be surprised that they changed the windings on this new starter. The speed at which this starter spins is impressive. This reminds me of my old caddy eldo convertable. I used 2 batteries in parallel to make certain it would start when hot.
A new starter for the 3.8L is not that much more than a rebuild. I am not impressed with te factory rebuilt Delco starters.

They are only as good as the company rebuilding them....

Thats very true....

Kev so far I have had good luck with my Reman AC Delco starter( bought a Gear Reduced ).... Been perfect... Last year at this time I smoked my original Direct Drive Starter on my 95 Bonneville... I did not intend to use the Gear Reduced on it, but they will fit any 3800 so on it went... I did the same with the van when it had its original motor and the starter started slugging...

But glad to hear you got it fixed and starting like it should..

Thanks guys for your input. I would be hard pressed to have kept this transport for this many years without your support.

My wife is spending more time driving up to Northwestern to see my daughter. the trip during the week takes at least 1+1/2 hours or more, and really puts the van through paces on highway as well as creeping in traffic.
chicago weather is brutal..period. I hope I am covered with a new radiator and a new starter.
JRS3800 is the gear reduced starter easy to come by? My GTX has almost 100k miles and I am sure that wil be getting cranky soon. Hope all is well with you guys....KEV

Its really a common starter...a lot of the buicks were using it as early as 1991... all of the SC cars had the gear reduced from 91.5 on... and a lot of 3800's from 97-98 had them as well..

Just a comment....This discussion is interesting, I was not aware double reduction starters were available for this engine. It is common practice now to go for double reduction because it uses a smaller and lighter motor that drains less current (but my 1970 Chrysler 300 with a 440cu.in. had that) ...but conversely, cranks the engine slowly. My wife bought a Suzuki SX4 recently and with a double reduction, is cranks so slowly..at least as you hear it...that you are afraid it would never fire up...but it will, every time, against all odds...,even in very cold climate . OF course, injectors and electronic ignition make this possible where old time carburators and breaker points would have had poor success with that.....so it goes with high tech....
Pictures here:
http://www.avigex.ca/xport/directdrivestarter.jpg;http://www.avigex.ca/xport/doublereductionstarter.jpg

1996 Series II with the gear reduced..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Jr3800/th_MOV04170.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Jr3800/?action=view&current=MOV04170.mp4)


1991 Vin C with the gear reduced
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Jr3800/th_L67Starter.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v294/Jr3800/?action=view&current=L67Starter.mp4)

I don't about slower... Its more along the lines of high torque... Been using the Gear reduced units for replacement for years...