[Spyro]

Well, I have an 1986 Dodge Aries LE. 2.2 lit. I do not use my car regularly. And I disconnect the battery negative cable. I have not changed the oil for more that a year. The engine will not start. It crank very slowly like a dying battery. I jumped it with my Dakota (engine running) still, it crank slowly and the voltage drop. Jumper cable is warm. I swapped the starter to make sure. Clean all the connectors and to the battery. Still no effect. There is no clicking sound. When I took out the sparkplugs and cranked the engine, there is movement. I'm sure the engine has not seized.

Is there a problem anywhere else I should look for? Could be the cable from positive to the starter?

 

[Spyro]

It sounds to me like you have a poor connection from a battery terminal (connector) to the wire that is crimped to that connector. After you crank, check those battery terminal connectors for any heat. If one is warm then you have a high resistance connection. It won't matter whether you are jumping the battery or just using your old battery. If a wire terminal has high resistance, the starter won't get enough voltage to spin it sufficiently to start the engine.

To repair, you can either buy a new cable (preferred), or cut the wire off the old cable, strip the insulation back, and install it on a new battery terminal connector.

Note that the problem could also be a short within the starter. See if the battery terminals get hot first and if they don't, remove the starter and get it tested at your local auto parts store.

The starter is remanufactored. Before this, the original starter has the same effect. I will look into mainly the positive cable. The negative isn't the problem. But, I will try again the jump procedure, and find the heated cable. It has to be the resistance somewhere. It's better than a seized engine!