I know these electrical questions come up all the time. Here is my problem. I went to start the car about 4 hours after I had driven it. The solenoid/starter seemed to almost pulse on and off with what sounded like sparking behind the drivers seat. So I Stopped, disconnected the battery and cleaned all the starter wires since it sounded like it might be a bad connection. Checked the "S" wire, has 12+ volts when the key is in the start position. Checked the main cable, all good. Got everything put back where it was supposed to be, then went to crank, lights dimmed and the ammeter when full -40 amps. The solenoid no longer clicks and the starter doesnt spin. Thought there might be a short somewhere on the purple "S" wire. Checked it all the way back through the clutch switch and the ignition switch, it was all ok. Tried to jump the car, still nothing. Is my starter/solenoid bad? I need to have the car running in the next day because I am moving and need to get it to start and drive up onto the trailer or they wont take it. Hence the urgency. Where can I get a new starter ASAP?

 

Sounds like a bad starter. Best is to take the starter out and have it tested. Most autoparts stores have a starter tester machine.

 

Well I just got back from Pep Boys, connected the starter and it spun up. So now I am mystified. What else could it be? I checked the entire purple "S" wire, there are no shorts in it what could cause the appearance of a short by pegging out the ammeter.

 

what seems puzzling to me is that the ammeter pegged itself???? that doesn't sound like a conventional starter issue to me

 

I thought it might have been a stuck starter so it was pulling current but not spinning. It worked on the test stand, but its raining out so I cant put it back on to see if its unstuck now, or still a problem.

 

"normally" speaking the starter current does not go through the ammeter????? so if it pegged it self its the problem is somewhere else.

 

But the problem only appears when I turn the key to the start position, I already checked the ignition switch for shorts, none. Have the clutch safety switch bypassed so it not there. I know the current doesnt go through ammeter, its just a differential voltmeter from the horn relay to the starter, but if the starter was pulling the current causing the voltage drop wouldnt it register this difference as a draw.

 

not sure of all the electrics on these newer cars but i don't see how voltage drops will cause ammeter drops....pull your fuses out of your fuse panel and see what happens....sounds to me like yur problem is somewhere else.

 

But no other circuits are momentarily switched on in the start position other than the starter lead. And there is defintely no shorts in it.

 

aren't all of the cars electrics activated ?

 

But they are in the run position. And there are no problems there. Its only when I go to start, and that is the only circuit extra that in energized.

 

If you turn your headlights on do they dim or go out when you turn your key to start? Also check your negative battery cable connection at the frame, possible it is the popping sound you are hearing as I believe it is located pretty much under the battery location.
Greg.

 

what if the solenoid is bad? and is some how grounding out or requiring too much current to energize itself? you know you could hook up a ford style soeloind and see what happens? it would ruleout a problem with the chevy style solenoid

 

The interior lights were on when I tried cranking. They dim, not go out, when I turn the key to the start position. They are ok in the Run position.
I cleaned and retightened the battery to frame ground the other day.

The solenoid is not bad, or at least itermittantly good. I took it to pepboys and they tested it, and it worked fine.

 

well now you have an interesting dilemna....just out of curiousity how do you know your battery is fully charged and fully functioning?....can you put a battery charger on it for several hours, watch the charge rate to see if its currently in a discharged state. it seems like everything you do checks out ok, but i still don't see why you would get a pegged ammeter unless the solenoid somehow was requiring lots of juice to energize....if you have not already done this i would clean every electrical connetion on the starter inclucing the engine grounding strap and all of the battery connections and frame ground.

 

At this point it seems you have either a bad battery or bad electrical connection between the battery and the starter.

I would first swap the battery for a known good one and see if that fixes the problem. At this point I would not try charging it, just swap it out. (You don't have time to deal with a possible bad battery, just to diagnose.) If this works, you've found your problem, if it doesn't, then it's not the battery, it's the wiring or the starter. (A bad battery can act as a drain on a good battery so sometimes jumping doesn't work with the old battery still in the circuit.)

Testing a starter on a bench is different than testing it under load, but since you seem to feel it's good, I would jump to the cables. You really need to examine all connections, including the ground cable that connects the engine to the frame (in the vicinity of the right motor mount). After you've checked and verified all connections are good, look the cables themselves over. My ground cable from the frame to motor had good ends, but the cable itself was almost corroded in half mid way between the ends. I only realized this after removing it and seeing how easily it bent in the middle.

If this doesn't solve the problem, you're back to the starter or solenoid. Most just refer to the starter, but the solenoid is integral to the starter and can sometimes be the problem. If you remove it from the starter you can see how corrosion could cause a problem. Clean it well before reinstalling.

Check it out and let us know what you discover. Good luck...

GUSTO

 

[QUOTE=matthud]The interior lights were on when I tried cranking. They dim, not go out, when I turn the key to the start position. They are ok in the Run position.
I cleaned and retightened the battery to frame ground the other day.

The solenoid is not bad, or at least itermittantly good. I took it to pepboys and they tested it, and it worked fine.[/QUOTE

try jumping the starter with a screwdriver or pick up a remote starter button they are fairly cheap and very useful. if it dosen't work you've got bad starter ,cable or battery. pepboys isn't the bast place to check starters
Alan

 

I tried jumping it with another vehicle. I felt that the battery could possibly be bad, so when I jumped it I clamped to the battery cables when they were disconnected from the battery. Did the same thing, just dimmed the lights and pegged the ammeter.

I will check the resistance of the cable to see if there is a noticable amount of resistance, indicating a bad cable. But they appear to have been replaced not too long ago.

I wouldn't say that I think the starter is good. It just spun up in front of me on the test stand. But since it wasnt even clicking solenoid when it was on the car, I dont know what to think.

 

Check out this post regarding starter checks. Most good shops will have access to these gauges and they will go a long way toward diagnosing a bad starter. I find them to be indispensible.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1113554

Don't forget the ground cable between the frame and the block. It's a short one about 8 inches long.

Good luck … GUSTO

 

That thread that gusto links to was started by me.

Turns out that the threads on the battery were cross-threaded and the OEM bolts were not getting a good connection.

Battery tested fine at local auto store from posts. Was just about to get the car up and drop the starter when I decided to run back and have the store test the battery with my bolts (not from the posts on top). The machine said "replace battery," so I did.