Need Help!!!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
Need Help!!!
hey im new to the forums and i own a 82 l83. im having some issues with the electrical system. after a drive at times i shut down the car and try to start it up again and it wont start..on crank at all from the starter..any ideas? im not to familiar with the electrical system of the c3. does anyone have a similar problem if not could advise me on going about this problem?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Couple ideas...but first of all, welcome to the forum. 
First, check the connections at the battery to make sure they are clean and tight.
Heat seems to be part of the problem. Next time it's hot and won't start, try tapping on the starter with a hammer. You won't hurt it...just give it a few good whacks. Then try to start it. If it fires right up then you need a starter.
Next inspect the wiring at the starter. You're looking for frayed wires or corrosion.
Also, check the main ground coming off of the battery while you're under the car.
First, check the connections at the battery to make sure they are clean and tight.
Heat seems to be part of the problem. Next time it's hot and won't start, try tapping on the starter with a hammer. You won't hurt it...just give it a few good whacks. Then try to start it. If it fires right up then you need a starter.
Next inspect the wiring at the starter. You're looking for frayed wires or corrosion.
Also, check the main ground coming off of the battery while you're under the car.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
No fuses, just fusible links. Two red wires going down to the starter, which kind of a white capsule on the starter end. The section of wire from the capsule to the starter IS the fusible link, and they can blow...
...however, if the car starts when it's cold then the links have not blown.
Racer
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 285
Likes: 0
From: Ga.
Welcome,
Check the bolt that goes from the starter to the solenoid. If this bolt is loose, it will not crank when hot. It opens up when hot and you get nothing. If you get someone to turn the key while you look, it will probably be arcing. It took me a while to fiqure mine out.
Check the bolt that goes from the starter to the solenoid. If this bolt is loose, it will not crank when hot. It opens up when hot and you get nothing. If you get someone to turn the key while you look, it will probably be arcing. It took me a while to fiqure mine out.
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Instructor
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 108
Likes: 0
starter solenoid
I fought this problem for years. The headers would cook the starter solenoid. I fab'd up a crude wrap around the solenoid (ceramic insulation under a hi-temp mesh). Looked trashy but did help quite a bit.
But this problem went away entirely when I went back to stock manifolds. Now I no longer need the heat shield, and no starter problems.
(And unless you're running an impressively modified engine, headers don't bump your output enough to feel it.)