suddenly no starter--then ok???

[Denny Nelson]

I have a new battery and new positive cable and new solonoid. After a 2 hour trip and 2 hour visit we came back to the car and it was like I was not pushing the clutch in far enough--no starter. Got it going down hill and popped the clutch and it would only fire for a couple seconds and then shut down again. Called AAA and he jumped the battery--nothing [I checked and pushed all the connections I could find under the hood while waiting for him]. So I tried a rolling start again and it fired perfectly. Drove 2 hours home and the starter THEN worked and it still works this morning. Its going in to my mechanic Monday morning, but in the mean time, has any one else had this experience??? We are in this car every day [80k+ miles] and are in remote places all the time. Very un-nerving. I was down to about 4 gallons and parked nose down, so wondered if that contributed to the shut down [I gassed up with the engine running]. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jeffvette]

Clutch safety switch, or it actually is the starter going out.

 

[lakemeadzmonster]

I had the same thing , it was the starter.

 

[lakemeadzmonster]

I wanted to mention where I bought, the starter and plentum gaskets are available at The Last Detail. It was a recommendation from a forum member. Thanks.
orders 1.888.LASTDETAIL info 770.414.0077 (Alanta, GA ) Starter is $150.00 NO CORE, unfortuntly the darn plentum gaskets are $41.00 each. Be sure and order two as when I got mine they only sent one, (That is how it was packaged from GM) and I had to reorder and got nailed for shipping again. But I priced a few other places and the plentum gaskets normal retail at a dealer is $56.00 plus tax. OH, the original part number for the gasket has changed to #10168684.

 

[ßill]

Denny said
"Got it going down hill and popped the clutch and it would only fire for a couple seconds and then shut down again."

This would seem to eliminate the clutch switch and starter as the problem. I would be looking at fuel pump, filter or maybe loose connection in the ignition system

Good luck

 

[8388]

Drving around with low fuel levels will ruin the pump.
.

 

[jhong321]

i would say your vats had a brain fart. that would explain the no start from a bump and after a few min it was ok.

 

[Illiad]

ZR1 Starter

I have a '92 ZR1 and experienced the exact same problem for two years. The "no start" condition showed up about 3 times a year always when the engine was shut down for about 1 hour. I did the clutch by-pass, new battery, and even ran 12 volts directly to the starter by-passing the VATS, the computer, starter relay, and the starter still would not crank over. It would start by push starting it and naturally when I got home the starter would work with the key like nothing ever happened. I ended up changing the starter which I bought from the Last Detail also for $150. If you are carefull, the plenum gaskets can be reused if they do not tear when the plenum is removed. I would also check Kurt White for the gaskets. It took me about 4 hours doing the job myself. Bottom line, problem solved, so now I will keep my car. I surmised this is a common problem of "heat sink" with the LT5 starter because of the location in the V inside the motor and the age of the starter. Let us know how things turn out.