starter issue

[grizwald]

last night i took apart the bulkhead, cleaned out all the old grease, sanded some corrosion off of the terminals (there wasn't much there), and put it all back together. i picked up an additional .4V at the s terminal from doing that, but still, the starter did nothing. so, to continue the proccess of elimination, i installed a ground from the starter to the frame (made out of some 4 guage wire i had kicking around), and so far, it works! such a simple solution....but because my old starter worked fine without a ground wire, i just didn`t consider that as being an issue. thanks again for you input guys.

of course, all this rushing around to figure this out so i can finally get to the track this weekend, and the forecast shows rain all day friday and saturday!! :lol:

 

[bowtie81]

Hey Griz don't worry about the forecast. You know Ontario weather and the predictions, changes day to day even hour to hour. So come race day I bet you'll be racing.

 

[grizwald]

i hope you're right!

 

[wagonmaster]

I too am having a very similar problem. Very low voltage to the "s" terminal with key to start position. Traced it back as far as the bulkhead but ran out of time. If I jump to the terminal I have mounted on the fenderwell which goes to the starter it will fire EVERY time (bypassing the ignition switch). It used to do it periodically more so when the car/engine had warmed up. Progressivally got worse and worse to the point now it won't do anything unless I turn the key to on and jump it at the terminal I have mounted. The terminal has two posts, one for hot junction directly from the battery and the other post is FROM ignition switch and TO the S terminal. I know I have a good ground from the engine to the frame. I really can't believe the starter needs a ground but it can't hurt to try I guess. Both fusable links have 12 plus voltage on either side. I'll have to check and the neutral safety and ignition switch to see whats there. It is an aftermarket starter, new, 600 miles. Thoughts????

 

[Doober]

There isn't a NSS on G-Bodies, only the ignition switch. A new one probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[wagonmaster]

I did install a NSS with the aftermarket shifter for the auto trans

 

[grizwald]

doesn't take much effort to throw a ground wire from the starter to the frame. i have a 1" wide ground strap from the engine to the frame, which i thought was plenty. but adding a ground from the frame to the starter seems to have fixed my issue so far. worth a try at least.

 

[wagonmaster]

did some digging last night and found the ignition starter switch mounted on the steering column. Pulled it off thinking this might be it so I disassembled it (rendering it junk) and found some very bad contacts possibly a melted one. I picked up a new switch today and will install tonight and let everyone know the results.

 

[grizwald]

turns out, i still have the same issue after installing the ground wire. it seemed to have helped the issue initially, but went to fire the car up today, and nothing....not a click, not a sound. just like i was trying to start the car in gear. nothing. back to square one. get out of the car, smack the starter with the handle of a big screwdriver a few times, go back in the car, starts up. turn it off, go to start it again, nothing. it will sometimes fire up a second or third time, other times i have to hit the starter. i'm thinking either A-my battery is getting weak (685CCA which test as "good" but shows only 560 CCA and in need of a recharge even after charging it twice this weekend), or B-there's an issue with my brand new starter. i'm going to go over the grounds again, for the heck of it. going racing this weekend, finally.....hope i can sort this #### out!

 

[wagonmaster]

I put in the new ignition starter switch on the column, worked good for a few days then right back to square one. I was gonna try the ground starp but prolly not now ;-( . Not sure whats next. Get a schematic someone and figure out the where the wire from the starter solenoid goes to after the firewall junction box. Not gonna have a lot of time again for a while but I'll keep you posted if I find anything. There is a neutral safety switch on the sterring column down near the end by your feet too. (which is bypassed to a shifter mount one)