1973 Newport will not start, but sounds like it wants to! why?

Better get those NEURON TERMINALS cleaned! You have an issue that is NOT normal! By ANY stretch of the imagination! How long have y'all been trying to "power your way" through it and NO real progress??? Sometimes, you have to change direction/route to get to where you desire to be!

What ign module is on the car now? This is important as they have a minimum voltage requirement just to fire the plugs. For the least voltage requirement, it needs to be the OEM-style box ONLY. The hot rod versions take more voltage, even up to about 13V, as specified in the old Direct Connection Race Manual.

The excessive voltage drain is obviously due to excessive internal engine friction. Defective new parts might be one part of the equation, too, but you're past that by now, I suspect.

Have you pulled the spark plugs and tried to turn the engine with the balancer bolt to check for internal friction? It will not be easy, but it should not be excessive hard, either. Verified that #1 plug is at TDC when #1 plug is firing?

Define "slow crank". Is it visibly slow cranking speed? Is it "hard to start" cranking time?

Your "buddies" might know more about cars than you do, but WHY are y'all still not accomplishing anything? Other than bruised heads.

CBODY67
Yep, something isn't right here. The OP needs to find a shop that can preform a complete battery and starter draw test. It doesn't matter if both are new. They can still be bad. If the battery is good the starter can have excessive draw. The cables also need tested. There is a method to the testing procedure. Once the battery and starter are found good, a socket and long handled ratchet in the balancer bolt should tell if there is a issue internally causing excessive drag. Like you said, pull the plugs and see how hard it is to turn the engine over. All this needs to be tested first before you start testing for spark, fuel, or timing.
 
Did you put a giant battery sucking starter on it? Or the efficient, reliable mini starter?

Not sure who remans the old style starters anymore - but it wouldn't surprise me if it was bad out of the box.
 
I replaced the starter already with a new Duralast one. The last one it had was faulty and I was able to get a brand new one free. It cranks okay I suppose, like I said it almost fired up. But my battery is a 1000 cranking amps battery if I'm remembering right. I don't feel like it should be taking this much power.

If the battery drops below like 12.5 volts, there's no chance to get a good crank out of it. It drops to like 9.6V while cranking if it starts out below 13 something. Very weird that it's taking this much power.
Duralast is an Autozone brand. I had a Duralast alternator go bad after 3000 miles. 1973 factory starters turn the engine slow. A low quality factory starter rebuild makes the problem worse.
9.6V is minimum acceptable battery voltage during a starter draw test. Starter draw should leave battery voltage higher than 9.6 V with a brand new battery and starter.
I recommend a NAPA brand mini starter for a magnum V8.
If you want to provide (or PM me) your location in NC, maybe we can find a member who is local and can come by to help.
Best of luck! Ben
 
One note about "new" batteries. They might full well be new, from the battery plant, BUT they are delivered with only about 70% of their total possible charge. Which means they have enough guts to easily start the car and then the alternator takes over to get the battery to full charge.

We also discovered that when an alternator encounters a depleted battery, for whatever reason, the output of the alternator spikes to max output immediately to take care of getting the battery up to the desired charge level. When that happens on some vehicles, that amp spike takes out the internal voltage regulator and/or cooks the internals of the alternator. We saw this a lot on Fords in the 1990s. SO, with any new battery which replaces a dead one, fully charge the new battery BEFORE the vehicle is started! Things just work better that way!

Obviously, the issue will be worse with an alternator of about 150+amps rather than one with 60amps, but the principle is the same.

Just some experiences,
CBODY67
 
Duralast is an Autozone brand. I had a Duralast alternator go bad after 3000 miles. 1973 factory starters turn the engine slow. A low quality factory starter rebuild makes the problem worse.
9.6V is minimum acceptable battery voltage during a starter draw test. Starter draw should leave battery voltage higher than 9.6 V with a brand new battery and starter.
I recommend a NAPA brand mini starter for a magnum V8.
If you want to provide (or PM me) your location in NC, maybe we can find a member who is local and can come by to help.
Best of luck! Ben
28601 is my zip code. If you know anybody nearby that would be great.

Speaking of starters I went out yesterday to try and work on the car and the starter clicked, but didn’t engage. I purchased the starter new about 1 month ago, so it was a shock when I took it off had it tested and it failed.

I’ve also heard Napa starters are quality, so I might go to their site and price check.
 
I would pull all the plugs, unhook coil and crank it over, see how long it cranks over, might confirm mechanical issue or not?
 
Better get those NEURON TERMINALS cleaned! You have an issue that is NOT normal! By ANY stretch of the imagination! How long have y'all been trying to "power your way" through it and NO real progress??? Sometimes, you have to change direction/route to get to where you desire to be!

What ign module is on the car now? This is important as they have a minimum voltage requirement just to fire the plugs. For the least voltage requirement, it needs to be the OEM-style box ONLY. The hot rod versions take more voltage, even up to about 13V, as specified in the old Direct Connection Race Manual.

The excessive voltage drain is obviously due to excessive internal engine friction. Defective new parts might be one part of the equation, too, but you're past that by now, I suspect.

Have you pulled the spark plugs and tried to turn the engine with the balancer bolt to check for internal friction? It will not be easy, but it should not be excessive hard, either. Verified that #1 plug is at TDC when #1 plug is firing?

Define "slow crank". Is it visibly slow cranking speed? Is it "hard to start" cranking time?

Your "buddies" might know more about cars than you do, but WHY are y'all still not accomplishing anything? Other than bruised heads.

CBODY67
Just finished reading your post about removing plugs!
 
28601 is my zip code. If you know anybody nearby that would be great.

Speaking of starters I went out yesterday to try and work on the car and the starter clicked, but didn’t engage. I purchased the starter new about 1 month ago, so it was a shock when I took it off had it tested and it failed.

I’ve also heard Napa starters are quality, so I might go to their site and price check.

You should have had your original starter rebuilt.
 
28601 is my zip code. If you know anybody nearby that would be great.

Speaking of starters I went out yesterday to try and work on the car and the starter clicked, but didn’t engage. I purchased the starter new about 1 month ago, so it was a shock when I took it off had it tested and it failed.

I’ve also heard Napa starters are quality, so I might go to their site and price check.
I would use this NAPA starter
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/RAY2446415
I would use this wire adapter and terminal relocation kit.
For Mopar: Premium mini starter conversion/relocation terminal Kit | eBay
Together, they will give much better performance than any factory starter

Member @FURYGT is in Iron Station NC, about 30 minutes away from you. He is knowledgeable and might be able to help.
 
Had an issue like this. Starter would crank but car would not start. Went to this forum and someone said to replace the ballast resister. Did this and the car fired right up. Took longer to find the ballast tester than it did to replace it.

IMG_1151.png
 
Read the OP's first post. With a new battery and starter, it only cranks for 10 seconds. Not long enough to get it started. He has issues he needs to address first before he messes with the timing or carburetor.
@jmustian you disagree?
Screenshot_20250517_174334_Firefox.jpg
 
You should have had your original starter rebuilt.
Oh I would have if it came with it. But, unfortunately the original starter wasn’t included when I bought the car. It came with a shitty duralast remanned one, and since it was relatively new AND faulty, I traded it in for a brand new one for free.

It helped, but didn’t last long. Less than a month to be exact if I’m remembering correctly.
 
Long winded response, my apologies in advance. But bare with me, I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.

In regards to timing: Your ignition timing can be dead nuts on target, but if the original nylon coated camshaft timing chain is excessively worn (likely for something that old) and jumped a tooth or 2, it'll never fire up. You need to pull the valve covers, pull all the plugs, use a dial gauge on the rocker arms and SLOWLY hand crank the motor while watching the valve to determine if this is indeed the issue. If the #1 intake valve opens up long AFTER it passes top dead center, you have a big problem.

As a gearhead grease monkey with several decades of experience under my belt, I have seen this scenario countless times with old vehicles. Not an easy fix either. I feel for you.

The very FIRST thing I'd do if I were you is test to see if you're even getting spark. The easiest thing is to give it a shot of carb cleaner, NON CHLORINATED Brake Klean, or even a splash of gasoline down the carb, then crank it to determine if it has spark. If it kicks and fires up momentarily, then yes, you have spark. The ignition timing can be off some and still kick the motor over for a bit if the rest is okay.

Then it needs GOOD gas and the means of delivering it. If it's been sitting for years, it's a good bet the carb jets are varnished over. It's a given it needs tearing down, soaking in solvent and rebuilt with fresh gaskets and seals.

Previous commenters mentioned a Magnum V8 starter. I also have a 73 Newport with the 400 and that's what I did. I didn't use the electrical connection adaptor, I made my own. But I agree, they are better than the big original starters designed way back when. Magnum starters are smaller, lighter, have MORE torque and use less voltage, it is superior. And you can buy a new or rebuilt starter and it be internally shorted and rapidly drain the battery right out of the box.

Get it to crank over without excessively draining the battery first. Take that monolith starter back and trade it for a Magnum V8 starter, they work GREAT! Maybe fresh battery cables too, only thing it'll hurt is your wallet. Then test for spark. Get some carb clean or brake clean while you trade in the starter. Be prepared to drop more coin for a carb rebuild kit. I personally wouldn't buy a rebuilt carb, my experience is half of them are bad out of the box, get a kit and do it yourself. Only then will you be ready to determine of the timing chain is bad. Everything else can be dead nuts right and proper, but if it has jumped the timing chain more than one tooth, it won't run proper, if at ALL.

Last of all, know you have my heart and interests in your favor. Welcome to the club of Voodoo Rocket Surgery, resurecting the dead and making them fly! All the cursing and swearing is what qualifies it as black magic! ✨
 
Long winded response, my apologies in advance. But bare with me, I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.

In regards to timing: Your ignition timing can be dead nuts on target, but if the original nylon coated camshaft timing chain is excessively worn (likely for something that old) and jumped a tooth or 2, it'll never fire up. You need to pull the valve covers, pull all the plugs, use a dial gauge on the rocker arms and SLOWLY hand crank the motor while watching the valve to determine if this is indeed the issue. If the #1 intake valve opens up long AFTER it passes top dead center, you have a big problem.

As a gearhead grease monkey with several decades of experience under my belt, I have seen this scenario countless times with old vehicles. Not an easy fix either. I feel for you.

The very FIRST thing I'd do if I were you is test to see if you're even getting spark. The easiest thing is to give it a shot of carb cleaner, NON CHLORINATED Brake Klean, or even a splash of gasoline down the carb, then crank it to determine if it has spark. If it kicks and fires up momentarily, then yes, you have spark. The ignition timing can be off some and still kick the motor over for a bit if the rest is okay.

Then it needs GOOD gas and the means of delivering it. If it's been sitting for years, it's a good bet the carb jets are varnished over. It's a given it needs tearing down, soaking in solvent and rebuilt with fresh gaskets and seals.

Previous commenters mentioned a Magnum V8 starter. I also have a 73 Newport with the 400 and that's what I did. I didn't use the electrical connection adaptor, I made my own. But I agree, they are better than the big original starters designed way back when. Magnum starters are smaller, lighter, have MORE torque and use less voltage, it is superior. And you can buy a new or rebuilt starter and it be internally shorted and rapidly drain the battery right out of the box.

Get it to crank over without excessively draining the battery first. Take that monolith starter back and trade it for a Magnum V8 starter, they work GREAT! Maybe fresh battery cables too, only thing it'll hurt is your wallet. Then test for spark. Get some carb clean or brake clean while you trade in the starter. Be prepared to drop more coin for a carb rebuild kit. I personally wouldn't buy a rebuilt carb, my experience is half of them are bad out of the box, get a kit and do it yourself. Only then will you be ready to determine of the timing chain is bad. Everything else can be dead nuts right and proper, but if it has jumped the timing chain more than one tooth, it won't run proper, if at ALL.

Last of all, know you have my heart and interests in your favor. Welcome to the club of Voodoo Rocket Surgery, resurecting the dead and making them fly! All the cursing and swearing is what qualifies it as black magic! ✨
Thank you for this response! I’ll definitely have more on my plate than I initially expected, but I have always been the persistent type.

as for some of the information, I did buy one of those smaller better starters from rockauto, and it’s coming soon. Has a good warranty too.

The engine has TECHNICALLY started, but not for more than a second or two. I hope it’s not a timing chain issue, it seems like a big task to fix. If it is though- I’ll figure it out.

As for carb rebuild, that’s one of the first things I did. It wasn’t very dirty at all actually, but I tore it down completely and cleaned it, as well as replaced all degradable things inside (gaskets, etc).

I have only been using non ethanol fuel, so good quality and I got fuel going to the carb bowl.

Really. Right now I think it could have been the starter, but we will see in a few days.

Thank you very much again for your response, and if anyone else is reading this I’ve heard all of you. Thank you.
 
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