1973 L82. THURSDAY -The starter was dragging. Checked the battery....good. Took it to my local mechanic who's familiar with the car. He advised me that I probably needed a new starter. FRIDAY - Called and he said it didn't need a starter the ground on the battery was loose. When I went to pick it up, he said it did need a starter after all because it started dragging again. A new was starter installed and I picked the car up later in the day. SATURDAY - The starter was dragging but it started. Took it to my son's to fill the tailpipes with powder for a gender reveal of his NEW SON that he will be having. I drive it home. SUNDAY - I decided to give her a coat of wax. Went to back it out of the garage.....clicking. no start. MONDAY - I call my guy and he says to try and jump it and get it to him. Won't jump. Scheduled tow truck for TUESDAY. I decided to look at the starter and see if anything was loose. I noticed that the ignition wire was touching something, so I gave it a little bend. I decided what the hey and give it another shot. Boom...it fired right up. Quickly took it to my mechanic and explained what happened. He said leave it because he wanted to check it an make sure that the starter wasn't bad. TODAY - I give him a call and he said it wouldn't crank this morning while reaching in through the window and turning the key but when he leaned in with his knee on the seat it fired up. He said this one has got him stumped. Anybody here have any ideas? Sorry for the long post but I wanted to paint the entire picture.

 

Sounds like a classic loose or corroded connection.
If this starter is doing exactly what your last starter was doing, is wasn't the starter.
Greg

 

I think you're right about the starter. The cables and connections are fairly new.

 

Did your mechanic check the ground cable where it attaches to the frame?
Did he bench test the old starter?
Is he aware of which wire was touching?
Does he know there is a fusible link in the wire harness connecting to the starter?

 

Mel,
I don't think he's really dove into it yet. Since it started with me slightly moving the wire and then with him kneeling on the seat, he told me that he really didn't have time today to track down an electrical problem. I haven't asked him about the old starter. I hope he hasn't already sent it back for the core charge. I'm sure he knows about the link. About the link, if it is blown, wouldn't that prevent it from cranking at all? So far it's a mysterious gremlin. I am considering trying to take it to someone else because he's getting slammed with 'normal' work and I don't think he wants to take a lot of time working on it. When I was younger, I would have tried to troubleshoot it myself. I have lurked on this forum for years and learned a lot. You guys have a wealth of knowledge. The reason I posted on here (my first one) about the problem is that I have never ran into anything like this before and was curious if someone on here may have. As we know, these cars can be fickle.

Gary

 

This will be good.

 

You should buy a set of jackstands (not from Harbor Freight), and take a look yourself.

It's always the battery. If it's not the battery, its a connector, likely the ground cable to the chassis as mentioned. The engine needs to be grounded to the chassis as well.

 

These old cars are typically occasional use vehicles. Some days, you want to drive and occasionaly they start.

 

I had similar problems on my 1973. Some items to check:
1) remove all cable connections at the frame and starter terminals. With cables, check that they are solid (go at least 6" from the end) and do not show signs of corrosion.
2) clean all connection points until shiny. This includes botl and bolt hole threads. Re-attach then coat with rust/corrosion preventer
3) check power thru ignition switch, and clutch switch (if 4sp), and neutral safety switch (if auto). Contacts may be dirty at connections or switches may be defective
4) check that your state is wired correctly so that the solenoid is getting the full 12 volts. One time, my R and S wires were reversed
5) I used a NAPA heavy duty solenoid on my stock starter and that helped
6) make sure there is no binding: add or delete shims as necessary
Keep us posted on your progress. Use pictures to show us what you are working on.
Fran

 

didnt these cars use the seatbelt sensor for one or 2 years only to prevent starting the car unless the seat sensor was depressed or am I thinking of something else? I know I disabled them on my 74...

 

Guys, thanks for the ideas. There's a lot that I can check. The first thing I am going to do is to get it home and start trouble shooting. I will let you know what the problem was when I find out.

 

When the starter was replaced, did the starter solenoid get replaced, also? If not, that is likely your problem.

 

1974 was the only year that had that horrible feature. I worked at a dealer at the time as a service writer and customers really got pissed off when we told them we weren't allowed to disconnect the feature. Eventually it was allowed, might have taken until 1975.

 

Next time it won't start tap the starter with something heavy (hammer or pipe) and see what happens. Sounds like the solenoid is not moving forward.

 

Change the ground cable from the battery to the frame

 

When he said It started with a knee on the seat, that is what I thought about.
I never even knew they did that crap.

 

I don't know when they started making those aluminum ground cables but those things corrode so badly and they just are crap.

 

Found the problem. Pulled out the driver's seat didn't see anything wrong. Went to put the seat back in and the interior lights began to flicker. Pulled a bolt out, they came back on. Put the bolt back in, they went off. Underneath the car he said there was a wire grounding out that was touching the bolt and also the engine ground wire was loose. No charge to me, so I'm a happy camper! Thanks for all of the input!

 

Gotta love a happy ending