Hi everyone, i’ve had my c3 1980 corvette for about 2 months. when i bought it, it ran for about a week or 2. had some starting issues but started up most the time but needed a jump to the battery sometimes to start it up. one day i took it to the carwash, and it killed on me, brought a friend with jumper cables to help me jump it back up, but when i went to jump it it made a terrible grind noise then completely killed and i haven’t been able to start it for about a month. i replaced the ignition switch and the starter/selinoid and still haven’t gotten any luck, but when i replaced them both i tried starting the starter with a screw driver by trying to get it to spark, and got the fan to barely start to move but no luck. i’ve tried new battery’s, i’ve checked the spark plugs, i’ve done everything easy. must just have a bad connection but don’t know where. any suggestions on how to get it to start again?

 

With these fiberglass cars, the biggest electrical issue goes to ineffective grounds. To begin, I would remove and clean the end of the one from the battery to the rear frame, and the one from the right front motor mount to the frame.

 

i got the starter to spin, but not the car to engage with it, someone told me that the flywheel is missing some teeth and not engaging

 

When you removed the starter to change the solenoid did you examine the ring gear?
Did you bench test the starter to make sure the bendix gear fully extended?

 

yes, i made very sure that everything was good and correct. i have the starter spinning, but it’s not engaging, so i’m thinking the flywheel dosent have any teeth to engage it.

 

so you didn't look at the ring gear when you removed the starter?
If so, remove it again.

 

Do you have the small trigger wire on the right starter soliniod terminal?

also check your grounds. they need to be clean and tight.

battery voltage good?

any swelling on the battery cables (sign of internal corrosion)

have you tried loosening the starter bolts and wiggling it to get the Bendix to retract? I have had them get stuck before.

guessing this is and auto transmission car???

if you suspect the ring gear has damaged teeth... you can bar the engine over to get to a different spot on the flex plate.

 

Does the starter cluck and then spin or just make a wiring spin noise? If no clunk the bendix is not piping out.

 

no clunk just spin, how do i get the bendix to pipe out?

 

Remove the starter and bench test it.
If the bendix doesn't come out you may have done something wrong with the solenoid install.

 

I'm speaking from a vague memory, but didn't small block Chevy's use two different size flywheels and aren't there two different sets of bolt holes in the block so that the same starter would work with either flywheel. And also aren't there shims sometimes used with the starter to get the correct meshing between the starter pinion gear and the flywheel teeth.

 

you are right. I think it’s 153? or 162? tooth ring gear and straight across or diagonal bolt pattern on the block ear.

I have had the starter just spin when the solenoid was bad or the trigger wire was on the wrong smaller lug.

if the OP has the starter spinning but the drive gear is not kicking out that needs to be figured out. Easy enough to test if you remove the starter. Take the starter off and get a set of jumper cables and a good battery and a long screwdriver. Put the plus side of the battery on the red jumper wire and the other red jumper cable end on the battery lung on the starter. Place the black jumper cable on the starter body. You can clamp it to the nose cone or the back numb on the starter case. Connect the other black jumper wire to the negative battery terminal. Now use the screwdriver to connect the battery lug with jumper cable to the “s” on the starter soliniod. This should be where your smaller wire hooks on that gets power when you turn the key in the car. The bendix should pop out and spin. It might sound like an angry jack hammmer. If all this happens then all is good with the starter.

it’s pretty simple to test. Sometimes there can be sparks and the starter may jump so be ready for that. Some soliniod have two big terminals and two small terminals and some soliniod have on small terminal. If your soliniod has two smaller terminals make sure your using the right one.

if it just spins and no gear pop out then you have a bad starter soliniod. If this is a new rebuild starter I would exchange it.

 

I’ve never had one of these starters apart but in the 100s of others I’ve dealt with the solenoid was basically a big fancy relay that provided power to the starter and that was it. The inertia of the starter spinning would spin the starter bendix outward and onto the ring gear.

With that said if it spins and the bendix does not deploy outward then you have a problem and it needs rebuilt/exchanged.

As others have said as well make sure you note what type of starter it is. This can so matter and going by year and motor size can bite you in the ***.

You never know what’s been done to these cars in the 50ish years they have been around. Don’t assume anything and compare parts at the parts store.

Example. I had to replace the starter on my brothers 68. It was originally a 427 car but the 427 blew up at some junction and a 454 was installed in its place many years ago. Because of that swap they also changed the flywheel from the OE 11” 153 tooth to a 14” 168 tooth. Thus it also changed the type of starter I had to use. Thank god I have a pretty patient group of guys at our local Napa because I think we pulled every starter off the shelf that day. The starter that ended up matching up was for a 1975 medium duty truck. IE not a Corvette or anything similar.

While it’s unlikely you’ll have the same fun and games with a small block car don’t assume anything.