Just drove my newly acquired 78 SAE from Michigan to Colorado via Route 66 - Chicago to Santa Rosa, NM. Will do the rest at a later date. What a great intro to Corvette ownership - The response to C3 was amazing! I'll post more on the trip later.
My question: Stopped at the 66 Car Museum in Santa Rosa and when we tried to start the car it would not turn over. A mechanic jumped the starter to get it running and we drove it without turning it off all the way to Colorado Springs. It now starts on demand. A neighbor that owned a 79 told me that he parked his on an incline just in case this happened claiming he could put in gear and roll it to move the flywheel position and get it to start. Is this common on a C3 automatic?





St Louis view towards former GM plant.

 

I am a big time do it your self-er and I am not an expert (disclaimer over with). But, it sounds like you could have an electrical issue. I don't believe the position of the fly wheel should cause a problem unless it is binding. That is a possibility and you might need to shim the starter because you never know what the total history of the car is. The other problem I would check (if you don't have a binding problem at the starter) is a loose battery cable or loose wiring. I would look real hard at the battery cables (at the battery and at the starter and at the grounding points). Then, I would start the car and check the voltage coming out of the alternator (I am not that familiar with this process off the top of my head, someone else can chime in). I use a volt meter and I have to look at things a bit and make see that it is putting out a charge and hooked up correctly. After I make sure all that is good, I check to make sure I have power coming down to the solenoid when someone turns the ignition switch on and off. The wire going to the solenoid is important to check because it is often damaged in older cars. Actually, I check all the wiring real closely on older vehicles because it is often easy to fix and can can make a lot of future troubles go away before they can sneak up on you. Hopefully, someone will expand on what I said. Enjoy your new wheels, it looks real pretty.

 

With an automatic trans newer than 1963 or close to that model year, there's no way to turn the engine by rolling the car. No rear pump in the trans. That out of the way, most V-8 engines, when you shut them off, stop in one of 4 places around the flexplate or flywheel. IF the starter turns and grinds but does not turn the engine, then you need to look close at the teeth on the flexplate/flywheel. If it just clicks, then you need to look at the starter or solenoid.

 

The 'keyword' in your post is ...NEWLY ACQUIRED.

I have to agree with parts of POST #2....and fully agree with POST #3.

Shimming a starter that has been on the engine is usually NOT the correct answer.

You have to verify if the starter is CORRECTLY attached to the engine block and has the CORRECT brace at the end of it to make sure the starter is SOLIDLY MOUNTED to the engine.

Make sure you battery cables at the battery are CLEAN and TIGHT.

Then the connections at the solenoid are also TIGHT...and when you do this...make sure you disconnect the NEGATIVE battery cable FIRST!

The armature in the starter can be a culprit due to the bushings for it at each end are worn out...thus it is able to move (wobble) which is NOT good. The brushes for the armature can also be worn out....and can easily be seen when the round end cap is removed WHEN the starter is removed off the engine.

Removing the wiring from the solenoid...even though when you hand check them to make sure the wiring it tight.....you may find that when you remove the nuts that hold the wiring on.....the studs that are coming out of the solenoid are actually loose. Some times I have had success in tightening up these studs by tightening up the jamb nuts and the starter is fine....sometimes the problems has gone on a bit too long and it does not help.

DUB

 

Good info... Thanks! This is an original owner car that I got from my Great Uncle. Three weeks ago it had just over 21,000 on it. He kept pretty good records on repairs and maintinence and I don't see where the starter has been messed with. We put about 2K on it with this trip so something could have came loose. There was power to everything else but when I turned the key there was nothing from the starter, no grind , no thunk, nothing. I'm taking it in to a decent mechanic to tune the carburetor for altitude and might just as well have him check it out too.

 

KEEP THIS IN MIND.....It is GREAT that the car has NOT been abused....but it is still old. AND...what you need to look at carefully is the wire junction harness at the back of the passenger side of the engine...near the firewall. This wire harness connector will be a clear plastic and black plastic connector. It is 6 ports in it...but NOT all of them may be used. THIS connector is where the POWER form your starter is coming up from the starter and going to the rest of the cars wiring. THIS CONNECTION IS KNOW to go bad....and thus...looses good contact...and the starter will not work or even the car might not get power to all areas of the fuse panel.

The colors of these wires which will be 12 gauge...so they are rather large....will be 2 if not 3 red wires ...one purple..and a light blue wire possibly/


This connection takes a lot of abuse....and by this I mean a lot of current goes through these connections...and if they get dirty or loose...the resistance will increase and get hot enough to make the connection loose good contact and fail...and I have seen many where the plastic connectors melted due to the heat build up by poor/dirty connection there.

DUB

 

Dub, You know Corvettes! I'll be sure to check that connection out. Thanks!

 

Hopefully it is a simple fix...I hope so. I have encountered this connection more times than I care to remember. It is a BAD DESIGN...that is for sure. GREAT for quick assembly when the car was built....BAD because when it gets old and what this connection has to handle in current load/draw.

DUB

 

Sometimes Solenoids go bad or get hot and wont start, My 78 has a factory starter heat shield.