[C2] Problems starting 66 L72
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 94
Likes: 52
From: St Jean de Luz and Cannes, France
Problems starting 66 L72
Hi Corvette Experts,
Need your help! Finally got my 66 L72 Vette after almost 3 months of shipping and logistics to get her registered here in france. My Vette is a matching numbers fully restored by nabers brothers back in 2015 and since then she’s been pretty much a trailer queen with less that 1000miles in 5 years. So after arriving at the local garage who specializes in classics had it fully looked over and there was lots of loose screws undercarriage but nothing major. Battery fully charged and all checked fine till now. I’ve put about 50 miles on her in about 2 weeks of casual driving and now when I try to start, I get a clicking noise after turning key several times but no engine turnover. Give it gas twice and turn key several times but no start. After a few second several tries of turning key, she finally turns over and starts. Only seems to occur when cold as she starts up immediately afterwards. Took her to garage and he believes it’s starter suggesting to replace it. I believe starter was rebuilt in 2015 when restoration was done. Anyone believe it’s something else? I recorded video and placed on YouTube if you’d like to see problem-
any help greatly appreciated!
Need your help! Finally got my 66 L72 Vette after almost 3 months of shipping and logistics to get her registered here in france. My Vette is a matching numbers fully restored by nabers brothers back in 2015 and since then she’s been pretty much a trailer queen with less that 1000miles in 5 years. So after arriving at the local garage who specializes in classics had it fully looked over and there was lots of loose screws undercarriage but nothing major. Battery fully charged and all checked fine till now. I’ve put about 50 miles on her in about 2 weeks of casual driving and now when I try to start, I get a clicking noise after turning key several times but no engine turnover. Give it gas twice and turn key several times but no start. After a few second several tries of turning key, she finally turns over and starts. Only seems to occur when cold as she starts up immediately afterwards. Took her to garage and he believes it’s starter suggesting to replace it. I believe starter was rebuilt in 2015 when restoration was done. Anyone believe it’s something else? I recorded video and placed on YouTube if you’d like to see problem-
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,182
Likes: 4,178
From: Kannapolis NC
Sounds like battery cables are loose or corroded on one end or the other to me. Stop pumping the gas when the starter isn't turning the engine over. It won't help and it can cause it to flood and also get gas on the pistons and even in the oil. You don't need gas until the engine is turning over fast enough to start. The first thing I'd do is when it clicked the first time I turned the key would be stop, measure the battery voltage on the battery cable ends, not the battery posts. If it's less than about 12.5v, start checking cables for clean and tight contacts. Then I'd make sure the battery was fully charged. It's possible the starter could be sticking, but it doesn't seem like the issue to me. Start with finding out how much battery voltage you're getting to the starter when it's doing this. And don't pump the gas until the starter is working.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 1,267
Likes: 346
From: London ON
Totally agree with 65GGvert. Sure sounds like a bad battery connection either at the battery but more likely at the starter as these connections are rarely (if ever) cleaned (until there is a problem). Once the connection was made, the starter sounded like it spun up to speed properly and the car would have started easier if you hadn't flooded it by pumping it so many times. To start these bad boys you just turn the key to start and when the starter winds up, pump the pedal a couple times. That it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,098
Likes: 378
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
Well my first place to look would be the battery and cables. But if the batt was bad it wouldn't start no matter how many tries. I expect the same for the batt cables though you should inspect both and their connections. BTW how old is the batt? Have you load tested it?
So what it reads like to me is the solenoid contactor is corroded by arcing and either needs to be replaced or you could try and remove the solenoid cover and flip the contactor disk over using the other side. Something I found once for guest with that problem and I could only get at one of the cover screws is I removed the one screw and pried the cover open enough to squirt in contact cleaner from a aerosol can. It worked though I don't know how long it lasted. Here in the states the local parts stores will have everything from a whole starter to just the contactor disk on the shelf - but in France you most likely will have to order and have it shipped.
Hope this can help.
So what it reads like to me is the solenoid contactor is corroded by arcing and either needs to be replaced or you could try and remove the solenoid cover and flip the contactor disk over using the other side. Something I found once for guest with that problem and I could only get at one of the cover screws is I removed the one screw and pried the cover open enough to squirt in contact cleaner from a aerosol can. It worked though I don't know how long it lasted. Here in the states the local parts stores will have everything from a whole starter to just the contactor disk on the shelf - but in France you most likely will have to order and have it shipped.
Hope this can help.
