FormerPacifist

I recently drove my 71 vette around this weekend making several stops and it started up fine each time. I came home and left it sitting overnight and in the morning it just wouldnt start. I turn the key to start it and nothing at all happens. I charged the battery with one of those 10 hour chargers and it is now fully charged but it wont start still. I made sure that the shifter was in Park and it still wouldnt start. Any ideas on what it is and how to fix it?

Brettmc

is it even turning over?

Brett

Sacredgrooves

loose at the battery terminals?

Maymyvetteliveforevr

Possible trouble shooting
Safety neutral switch
Bad connection at the starter or battery
Starter solenoid gone
Be certain battery is fully charged
Defective positive or negative battery cable

FormerPacifist

Yes, the engine won't turn over at all and yes the battery terminals are clean and have a good connection. I'm going to pick up a new battery and see if this allieviates the problem, I'll let you know.

canucbuck

Had the same problem on my truck. Everyone I talked to said it was my starter. So I put my jumper cables on my battery and connected the other ends to the starter and it started. Ended up being a bad ground to the starter. Replaced the ground cable and all was good.

bobs77vet

look at neutral safety switch...

EVIL_GRIM

bad connection at the Ignition Switch. mine was loose on my Beetle and it wouldnt even start or turn over or anything, only my parking lights would turn on.

fontking1a

I had that problem for two decades. There may be some worn insulation where your wiring goes through the firewall. It took me several starters, alternators, ignition switches etc. to finally figure this out.

75blackray

I have that problem sometimes with my vette. Even though I have it in park I have to push the shifter forward sometimes for it to start. I'm sure thats not your problem but it wouldn't hurt to try before buying a bunch of stuff. Good Luck

Juice110

I troubleshot this problem on my 69 for a long time, and here's the order in which I did it. I finally solved it with a new engine wiring harness.

Check:

1) Battery and Battery Cables
2) Neutral Safety Switch
3) Starter Solenoid (conisder a heat shield for the solenoid if you find this is the culprit)
4) Alternator

Once you get to this point, you'll be tempted to revisit these last items, but I encourage you to take it a few steps further:

5) Horn Relay (don't laugh - a lot goes to and through that thing), Fusible Links, and Ammeter
6) Last Resort: New engine wiring harness. If you've got the original wiring, I think you'll be surprised what this will do for you. Also take a look at your forward lamp harness.

Mine starts smooth now and no need for trickle charging every night. I first found that my alternator had been over-charging, and that my neutral safety switch was a little off. But, I later found that still didn't solve it - it was the harness in the end. That wiring was only really made to last about ten years.

Also, if you do this, put some spiral wrap on the new wiring. That wiring - like the solenoid - gets cooked under there.

Hope this helps and it saves you some of my headaches.

71redskin

i just had the same prob and finally found that power cable from my battery had grounded itself to the exhaust manifold... something else to check maybe..

FormerPacifist

Ok, today I replaced the starter and solenoid and the problem is still the same. The grounds to the starter and all the connections are good. The black cord from the battery to the solenoid is getting 12 volts. The smaller red wire closest to the engine attatched to the solenoid got no voltage at all no matter where the ignition switch was. There is another small wire opposite the red wire and i'm not sure what it does. When i was testing the voltage I accidentally connected the big black wire and the smaller red one and the starter came on and tried to start the engine. Am I right in assuming that this narrows it down to a problem in the wire from the starter to the ignition, a bad ignition switch, or the neutral saftey switch?

pcfred

Same here. Try putting in neutral.

FormerPacifist

Putting it in neutral doesn't help. I wish it did, It was the first thing i tried.

wattac2

First, do you hear any sound like it's trying to start. Even a click. Two ways to go from there. If there isn't even a click continue looking at the "electrics" involved. If there is some sound coming from the starter system then I'd suggest pulling all your plugs and checking for a hydraulic lock due to a leak in the cooling system. Just another thought.

Eddie 70

Are you getting any lights or indications when you turn the key. Is the voltmeter showing anything? Almost sounds to me like one of the fusible links is the problem. Check the one near the starter and make sure it is still good.

FormerPacifist

Firstly, yes all the lights on the car work, tail lights, head lights,dome lights, instrument panel lights, blinkers. The hot wire at the starter isn't getting any voltage at all but the big black one is getting 12v. This leads me to believe that it is a bad ignition switch or bad wiring between the switch and the starter.

Where would I find those fusable links at?

djgrelli

I went through the same thing. Finally replaced the ignition switch and haven't had a problem since. It's a PIA to replace but sovled my problem.

Maymyvetteliveforevr

FormerPacifist, You have nothing to lose by testing the safety neutral switch. Turn the key to the start position, in other words as if to engage the starter. Keep it in that position with one hand while repeatedly moving the gear shift back and forth from the park position all the way down to the lowest gear and then back to park again (always keeping the ignition in the start position - not the on position). The reason for doing this is if the neutral switch is out of position it may not start in neutral either, it may be between neutral and reverse or neutral and drive (depending on how far it's out). This test should take all of about 60 seconds. P.S. Make sure to keep the key in the start position. Good luck. Let us know how it went!