Need Immediate Electrical Help

[matthud]

I know these electrical questions come up all the time. Here is my problem. I went to start the car about 4 hours after I had driven it. The solenoid/starter seemed to almost pulse on and off with what sounded like sparking behind the drivers seat. So I Stopped, disconnected the battery and cleaned all the starter wires since it sounded like it might be a bad connection. Checked the "S" wire, has 12+ volts when the key is in the start position. Checked the main cable, all good. Got everything put back where it was supposed to be, then went to crank, lights dimmed and the ammeter when full -40 amps. The solenoid no longer clicks and the starter doesnt spin. Thought there might be a short somewhere on the purple "S" wire. Checked it all the way back through the clutch switch and the ignition switch, it was all ok. Tried to jump the car, still nothing. Is my starter/solenoid bad? I need to have the car running in the next day because I am moving and need to get it to start and drive up onto the trailer or they wont take it. Hence the urgency. Where can I get a new starter ASAP?

 

[JohnZ]

Sounds like the starter has gone south, especially with full (-) deflection of the ammeter and no results. :eyerole

 

[matthud]

Well I just got back from Pep Boys, connected the starter and it spun up. So now I am mystified. What else could it be? I checked the entire purple "S" wire, there are no shorts in it what could cause the appearance of a short by pegging out the ammeter.

 

[Bill75]

Sounds unlikely, but in your first post you said "sparking behind the seat". Any chance you've got a bad battery cable? I've seen them corrode inside the sleeve that's crimped on the ends. They look good but really are not.
I'm assuming yor battery is behind the seat like mine.
Bill

 

[matthud]

I dont think the cable is bad. The car has been running fine for awhile. All the proper voltages are where they are supposed to be. The cables apear to be resonably new.

 

[jdp6000]

I think its a sign of the starter going. Mine used to do this when in got hot. You probably will get it started to get it on the trailer.

Jim

 

[matthud]

The problem is that it wouldnt start at all today. If I cant get something figured out, there is no way of getting it on the trailer.

 

[spearsjag]

The problem is that it wouldnt start at all today. If I cant get something figured out, there is no way of getting it on the trailer.

did you clean the battery posts and terminal ends?

 

[matthud]

Yes, cleaned the battery posts, the negative lead to the chassis. Have to recheck the frame to motor ground strap, and clean the starter itself to get a good ground.

 

[I_R_DA_ONE]

take a meter ( in the Volts position)and place one lead on the battery ground and the other on the motor.. a good bolt or the like ......then try to crank it and see if ther is a sign of voltage on your meter and if there is you have a bad ground somewhere between the motor and the battery....
Mike R

 

[vmrod]

In addition to cleaning the battery posts, clean the inside connectors of the battery cables. Sometimes a 'residue' builds up and doesn't make a good connection.

 

[matthud]

Used the 2 sided brush and cleaned the terminals as well as the inside of the cables, less than a week ago.

 

[jdp6000]

You've lost me here. What do you mean by won't start? Originally you said it made a noise and you got clicking sparking from the battery. In a later post you say when you got from Pepboys it spun....what do you mean by spun? Turned over but wouldn't start??

If your starter or solenoid is going try this. Turn the key...if with a fully charged battery nothing happens. Crawl under the car and lightly tap the starter with a hammer. When solenoids go they stick...no matter what you do the car won't start...other then tapping it with a hammer. If the hammer trick works its your solenoid.

Jim

 

[matthud]

The car will not start at all, at first it attempted to start, the starter made a funny noise and I heard the sparking. Then after cleaning up the starter terminals and putting it back the starter would not crank. I took the starter out and took it to pepboys to test. Out of the car it cranked on the test bench. I tried the hammer trick, before I took it to pepboys but it didnt help.

 

[vmrod]

Mine did something similar. For $30 bucks, I ended up replacing the starter and solenoid together.

The problem: There is a screw on the starter the ties into the solenoid electrically. This screw fried. At first glance, it looked OK, but only the first thread was making contact. When I tested my starter, it worked fine. I tested the solenoid, it worked fine. Tested together was fine. Starting it with a load, and there was nothing. I also had that same crackle behind my seat too.

If you wanna check the screw, it is one of them that holds the solenoid to the starter, and it is on a little post.

 

[MMM]

I know this has been suggested all ready, but double check your battery cables. Read voltage at the battery with the switch in the start position and again at the starter with the switch in start. See what the voltage drop is. I diagnosed a Jeep Wrangler two weeks ago with the same symptoms. The owner had all ready replaced the starter and solenoid and battery. Checked the voltage at the Bat. while attempting to crank engine, got 12V. Same conditions at starter got 0.43V. New positive battery cable ($10.0) solved all problems. And you could not visually see that the cable was bad.

Mike

 

[jdp6000]

The car will not start at all, at first it attempted to start, the starter made a funny noise and I heard the sparking. Then after cleaning up the starter terminals and putting it back the starter would not crank. I took the starter out and took it to pepboys to test. Out of the car it cranked on the test bench. I tried the hammer trick, before I took it to pepboys but it didnt help.

Did you test it a Pepboys under load? Have you tried crossing the screws on the starter with a screw driver? There is a fuseable link on mine near the starter, I'm not sure if yours has it.

Jim

 

[geekinavette]

As already mentioned a couple times...

"Spinning" the starter up on a bench is completely different from trying to get it to turn over an engine (ie "under load"). It does sound like you have a connection issue somewhere. Keep hunting...you'll find it.

Bill

 

[goertz]

like Vic said, go buy a starter for about 30 bucks. if you heard sparking from the battery behind the seat, then the terminal connections are bad. either clean them well, doesn't matter if you did this a week ago or not, or just replace the terminals, and make sure they are tight. the sparking is because there are spots on the terminal that aren't making contact, and when you put a load on it, it either burns throught the corrosion to make contact, or jumps across those gaps. make sure they are clean and tight. A starter failure is extremely common on all Chevy's and all other GM products. A new solonoid is about the same price as a new starter with solonoid. I had a bad starter on my '69 Trans Am, so I pulled it, and got a new one from Pep Boys. I put it in, hit the key, and it cranked wonderfully, only it wouldn't stop cranking until the cable was pulled off. I took it back, they checked it out on their tester, and it was fine. I put it back in the car, same crap. checked all the wiring, pulled the starter and reinstalled 3 times, always the same thing. I took it back and told them I didn't care what their tester said, it was bad. they gave me another one, took it home, and it worked perfectly.