DIY: Battery Relo

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