DIY: Battery Relo

ChrisSlicks

I don't have specs on the starter but it could potentially pull over 300A, provided the battery can deliver that much.

wstar

The service manual only quotes 'less than 110 amps' under unloaded conditions (like spinning it up on a bench), which isn't really helpful. In general, I'm not finding a whole lot of definitive data anywhere on the net about the cranking current of a starter motor when actually starting an engine. I suspect this lack of data is because the real answer is 'it varies a lot depending on conditions'.

I imagine if for some reason your engine was incapable of turning over (somehow seized up completely) that the starter motor stalling out against it would probably become damn near a short circuit and probably fry the battery. This is probably why the factory wiring on every car runs the starter wire separately without a fuse, whereas everything else on the car is fused.

I changed my mind about trusting a clamp meter before I even tried it, once I remembered that they only really measure AC amps, not DC amps, so it wouldn't really give any sort of accurate reading.

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7AT Track Car!
Journal thread / Car setup details

ChrisSlicks

You can measure DC current with a clamp, the hall effect is still valid.
AC/DC Current Clamp