All

I am in the midst of my 72 SB auto restoration and doing various projects at once.

Just installed the radiator and got the motor fired up after a long time of sitting. I would then start the motor weekly while I moved on to other projects but a friend of mine offered to help me time the motor one weekend. All of sudden the motor doesnt start, i only get a clicking sound when turning the ignition. I have no headlights yet so I cant use the lights dimming method of troubleshooting.

i tested the battery and even pulled the starter but Oreilly's said it tested fine. Still no start, just this clicking sound. Does Oreilly's test actually test the solenoid too or just the starter?

My thought is bad connection somewhere?
My wiring harness is a mess and will all be replaced this winter but Im confused as to why the car starts consitently during my restoration and one day stops. I was just hoping to get the motor timing completed and the trans rebuilt before jumping into wiring harnesses. But if the car wont start I may have to re-adjust my tasking.

I just cant figure out why the clicking sound now; nothing was distrubed between car starting and now clicking.

I dont really want to bother chasing wires as the entire harness was Bubba'ed in the first place and will be pitched. I was just wondering if there was a mechanical reason as to why this issue occured. Or at the very least can i assume its probably the electrical connections?

Thoughts anyone?

 

Most likely one of the following issues: 1) dead battery...regardless of O'Reilly...check the specific gravity of each cell [$2 specific gravity tester at any auto parts store]; 2) bad connections on either/both ground and main power cable going to starter solenoid; 3) starter solenoid defective.

If you do not have lights or if you have lights when NOT starting the car but do NOT have them when you try to start it, the battery is undercharged. It doesn't mean the battery is bad...just not run long enough to charge it up.

 

I have no headlights installed in the car period so I can't use them for diagnoses. The battery was pulled and tested/charged by myself. Finished fully charged...plus it was only a 3 month old battery. I planned on replacing the starter but Oreilly said It passed so I decided to just reinstall. However reading another post got me to thinking the test may not have tested the solenoid directly.
Isn't the clicking sound typical of the solenoid, and may not be generating enough power?

The connections on the solenoid are some of the shoddy looking connections I previously spoke of.

 

The click you're hearing is probably the solenoid. My next check would be the connections on the main cables as 7T1Vette suggests. Check the connections at the battery posts, at the starter solenoid, at the frame underneath the battery where the ground connects to the frame, and the cable going from the block to the frame. Sounds like one of them may be loose or dirty.

If all 6 connections are tight and clean, my next thought would be the solenoid. The shop probably didn't check the starter going through the solenoid.

 

I would fix the connections for sure but in the mean time there is an old trick that might help You out. Usually a clicking sound but no turning of engine means starter, any how try this. While having someone turn ignition tap on starter with a 2x4 or something like that. Don't go crazy with it or You will need a starter for sure. Sometimes this frees them up a bit, but tells You it needs replacing. If that does not work try the solenoid next. If one of them fires while Your taping then that is what needs replacing.

 

If you are just getting a 'clicking' sound, the starter is not likely to be involved. The solenoid is what sends the power to the starter. Clicking just indicates that the solenoid is either getting inadequate current to "pull it in" or that the contact plate in the solenoid is not getting the connection made between 'power in' and 'power out'. Don't waste your money buying a starter unless you've already changed out the solenoid.

 

Did you change the timing right before the starting problem? Bad timing can make your vette unable to crank. IF your battery,starter connections etc. are all good I would look into this.

 

make sure the starter is shimmed properly or it will bind

 

Did not get a chance to time the motor...had just bought the equipment that morning, go figure.

I have no experience in shiming the starter; if it worked before could it gone "out of shim"? Sorry just don't know the details.

And now days the new starters come with solenoid installed; if it turned out to be solenoid couldn't be easier to replace entire unit?
Thanks again all for the ideas all, I really appreciate the help!

 

If there is any corrosion on the cables it can cause the solenoid to click but not have enough amps to crank the engine.

I got roped into working on a friends vehicle to figure out why they couldn't get it to start. They had already replaced the battery, starter, and even the alternator and the darn thing would still just click.

Battery read 12.6 volts, so I did a voltage drop test with a digital meter between the battery + post to the starter post and it was dropping 11.1 volts when turning the key!!! The 1.5 volts that was actually getting to the solenoid gave it enough to make it click, but that was it.

At that point it was clearly the cable at fault. Took the cable loose and peeled back the covering and it was solid green with corrosion. New positive cable fixed it. Lights and radio worked just fine, but put some amps thru it and the corrosion created so much resistence that it wouldn't start.

 

How did you test the battery? If you just checked voltage, that isn't enough. You need to do a load test. Even new batteries can be bad.

If the battery really is good, then cleaning the battery cables (both ends) and the ground cable between the engine and frame would be my next step.

 

I agree, new batterys have been known to be bad, especially certain cheap brands. At the time I didn't have a Midtronics battery tester handy, but the quick voltage drop test showing that 11.1 voltage drop from terminal to terminal made it obvious. .1 voltage drop on the positive side is acceptable according to printed standards.

Plus, it's been well over a year and the vehicle is still going.

 

I have some experience with this. I doubt it is your battery. Battery at 12.3 V and above is probably fine (even though you are only reading surface voltage). You can jumper the the S terminal (red wire) to the thick starter wire with a screwdriver and see if she spins. Make sure you are in neutral and do not ground the screwdriver!!! I would also check for lots of oil buildup around the starter...are your bolts firmly grounded? I had a bad ground from a completely unrelated circuit cause this. Have you recently done any wiring? Also, check the resistance of the thick black wire on the starter with a multimeter. It should be a few milliOhms. Does your inline Ammeter peg out during all this?

 

Just one more thing regarding your battery. Is it by chance an Optima or simular gell type battery? I ask because two different part stores were convinced by thier machine that mine was good when it turned out it was not. Just like home chargers, these test machines seem to have trouble with gell batteries.