Now that I have all of the cooling system redone, I can't even get the darn thing to turn over. I bought a mini starter, put it on, and it cranked twice. It just clicked twice before cranking those two times, and now it does nothing but click. So I figured it wasn't getting enought amperage. Took the battery in, they said it was bad, and they gave me a new one. Hooked it up, still clicking. Took the starter back off and had it tested at the local starter and alternator stop. They said it cranked every time. Said it was really a nice starter. What could be the problem? I changed the starter because one, I was having heat soak problems and two, because it was doing this same clicking thing before I started doing the cooling system. Only it would only click once or twice, then crank. I'm guessing loose connections, but I don't know where to look as far as the connections go. Where do all the wires run from the starter? What relays should I check, and where are these relays located?

 

Have you checked your cables? They should have a tight clean connection at the battery and should show no signs of corrosion anywhere. Also, make sure your battery is good even though it is new.

 

check the connections at the alternator also. All of the electrical wires form a large circuit and if any of them is loose, you won't be able to pull enough amperage to fire up.

 

I changed the terminals on the battery. Also redid the connections at the alternator because the positive wire was a little loose. It cranked the first time I hit it. Set the car back on the ground, and it clicked a couple of times then cranked. Squirted some gas in the carb, and it fired. Let it run a couple minutes, and I started seeing some smoke coming from the passenger side. Shut it down. Went over to see what it was, and it ended up being a little oil on the header. Tried to crank again, and all I get are clicks. Makes no sense to me whatsoever. Anything else to check?

 

Is there any oil getting on the starter?

 

Starter is clean. This was actually transmission fluid I believe as it's leaked EVERYWHERE while sitting in my garage for so long. That's the next project.

 

This might be a longshot, but I had a 1981 that the bolt holding the fuse block together was loose. The fuse block had one side on the engine side of the firewall and one side on the cabin side of the firewall. These parts were held together by one bolt. The bolt worked its way loose. The electrical system was not working properly because it wasn't making full contact. Talk about a hard problem to track down.

 

Here's what I've done so far. After I got the battery installed and the starter hooked back up, I checked voltage at the battery which was a little over twelve. I also checked it at the post on the starter. Also getting twelve. A couple of the wires were in bad shape right at the starter, so I repaired them. I'm still getting a click. I haven't checked the fuse block yet, but I plan on doing that this evening. Anything else I should check?

 

You didn't mention checking the battery cables. Replacing the terminals is one thing, but if they were corroded, it could have spread into the cables under the insulation which cannot been seen.

 

They weren't corroded. I did it because it had a loose connection where the wires hook on to the terminals. The piece that holds the wires down was bent.

 

With the headlights on, try starting the car. If the lights dim, that generally indicates you are getting power to the starter and it would therefore be the suspected culprit. If the lights do not dim, that generally indicates an electrical problem involving current not getting to the starter.

 

It normally comes down to 3 things; battery, starter, or wiring.

Battery is good.
Starter is good.
Only one thing left.

If you have a decent set of jumpers, try attaching them. The ground to ground, and the positive from the battery to the positive on the strater (big lug). Then try to start it. Make sure the positive conntection on the starter is secured so it doesn't fall off. It's possible it will do some unexpected welding on it's on if it grounds out.

 

Great idea. I didn't even think of this. I'll try this evening.

 

Well, any verdict yet?

 

Wasn't able to tonight. I had to work on a project with another fellow in one of my college classes.

 

Okay guys, I've done a few more things since last time I posted. First of all, I changed the ground cable from the battery to the frame. The old one looked kinda rough where it went on the frame so why not go ahead and try it? Only $7 anyway. Well, that didn't do anything, but at least I have a pretty negative battery cable now I hooked up a 78" positive cable and ran it out the side of the car, hooked it to a jumper cable which I hooked onto the battery. This wire and the alternator wire were hooked to the starter. Basically, I was just bypassing the positive cable that was on the car. Still got a click. I was pretty excited about this since I won't have to change that pain in the butt cable. Now it can only be the battery or the starter. I had the starter tested a couple of weeks ago when this problem started, so I know that's good. The battery is new. I exchanged my old bad one for this one. I still did not know if it was good or not. So tonight I take the battery to get checked at Advance. They did a quick check on it and said the battery was good, it just had a low charge. I don't have a charger here, just a jumper which doesn't have enough juice to turn my motor, so a lot of good that does me. It was too late for them to charge it tonight, so I'm going to take it back to them tomorrow, and we'll see what the culprit is. Just wanted to update those who were wondering.