intermittent start '76 vette

I'd say so. You should be able to test it by jumping the 2 purple wires together--easiest is to skin them and twist them together FOR THE TEST ONLY**TAPE THEM GOOD FOR SAFETY. Then test drive, being careful to let no one else drive it, as you, only, know that it will try to (and sometimes DOES) start in ANY GEAR= DANGEROUS. If this eliminates the intermittent no-start condition, you have found it. Replace and adjust. Either way, un-twist and tape the 'skinned' wires PERMANENTLY when you finish. Reason to jump them temporarily, as you have found, sometimes it starts and sometimes you may have to go thru the gears several times to cause it to malfunction. I'd say chances are greater that this sw. is bad rather than the ign. sw. HTH, s

Ok - here's t he scoop. I managed to get at that assembly and skiinned the wires and joined - no go. However, I tested with my DVM and on the input I get 11.66V and the output side of the switch I get 11.55 or so, so there is some current draw. When I slip it into park, the output drops to zero V so to me that switch is ok and my issue is between that wiring harness and the starter solenoid, OR I have a lousy ground that is causing it not to draw enough current?

I guess if I shinny underneath and measure that voltage at the solenoid - it must be a ground wire?

I think there is one ground strap from the frame to the starter, one from the battery to frame?

Sound reasonable?

TIA.

do you have the solenoid on the starter as is typical with GM or is it mounted on the inner fender? If the latter, is the solenoid well grounded?

I'd also go ahead and check for voltage at the solenoid next time it doesn't start.

Do you have headers on this car? If so, and it uses the typical GM solenoid on top of the starter, does the starter have a heat shield?

nate

no - the solenoid is on top of the starter and it is stock with no headers so heat should not be an issue.

I have read elsewhere that the 2 fusible inks in the cable to the starter solenoid can be an issue...

got problems - still can't get vette going

won't turn over : replaced starter/solenoid with new one.

I have tried bypassing all cables - jumpered from battery to starter connections, then put +B on the Solenoid from the alternator. I hear a bit of whirring, but that is it The starter is ot engaging. When I crank it via the key, the battery drain goes off the map (like more than -40 amps ) as it should....

tried everything I can think of. Gonna pull it back off I guess and try it out of car - don't know what else I can do

should just hook battery to ground, power on solenoid and then feed

Sheesh any ideas on this?

Yanked it out - brand new styarter and solenoid assembly.

Used battery cables onto my ford escape which is running just fine.

Then bridged to the S contact with a screwdriver - it spins, but the gear does not spin out and it has to in order to engage the flywheel AFAIK?

yes. I believe that this is controlled by the solenoid on a typical GM starter - there's a fork connected to the solenoid plunger that positively moves the gear out when the solenoid is engaged. sounds like something is messed up, is the fork connected to the solenoid correctly?

nate

When you had the starter out, did you look at the teeth on the flywheel by any chance?

--scott

Was this a chain store rebuild by any chance?

--scott

You got it Pontiac. Local auto parts store here. Going to get a replacement now....

Sheesh!

Done!

What caused me to check other things and chase some red herrings (which is good to have checked anyhow - like neutral switch and fusible links) was the intermittent factor.

I thought (erroneously it seems) that a starter would either go or not go. The old one was intermeittent and I guess died after I put the new solenoid on it.

Then I went trhough one bad new from the box AC-Delco (- the guy was surprised at that), that caused me to do some more head scratching, but the second one kicked in as advertised and ole betsy fired right up.

Geeze - these things are a lot more fun when you don't have to push them everywhere! LOL.

Thanks for the assist guys.....

It's sad but never assume a new part is good unless you've seen it work correctly with your own two eyes. I've got a story about a reproduction aluminum intake manifold... it should have been a sign that the maker of said manifold advertises stainless steel manifold hold down clamps machined from solid stock (the factory clamps are stamped sheet steel) turns out those little clamps (and composition gaskets, and lots of torque) are REQUIRED to get the #$%^ manifold to come close to sealing. I'm about ready to throw the stock 50 lb. hunk of cast iron back on there just so the damn thing runs right. I would have returned it but I sent it out to be polished before test fitting it (OK, that's my mistake right there)

Sad thing is I traded an Offy aluminum manifold for this hunk of crap in the search for the last few elusive HP (the Offy was intended for an earlier, smaller engine and had smaller runners) and that one worked perfect. Of course, if you call up Offy they will say that they still make every manifold that they ever did, but when you try to order one for a Studebaker V-8 they'll tell you they never made one... never mind that I had one bolted onto my engine and also have a vintage flyer from Offy clearly showing it, with part numbers and everything. Grr.

Well, anyway, congratulations. Enjoy your newly functional 'vette...

nate

When the commutator goes bad, it will get dead spots on it. Sometimes it'll work, but sometimes it won't, depending on what position it stopped in.

Was it really an AC-Delco? Just because it says so on the box doesn't mean that it really is any more, and that has become a serious problem these days. There are a lot of cheap knockoff parts being sold as the real thing, and the dealer may not know other than that the number of returns has increased.

--scott

Dunno - it said AC-Delco on the sticker, instructions and box.

The guy was quite surprised since he has seen very, very few non- functioning new units from Delco. But he tested it with the same results.

As I said, it would spin up, but the gear would not shoot out to engage (just my luck). Second was A-ok...

I was out today and thing started about 8 times in succession so that is a good sign. lol.