I was having problems with solenoid chatter and very slow revs when attempting to start my 77 . It was suggested that I remove the plugs spray marvel mystery oil in cylinders and retry. I did this and the motor turned freely oil pressure came up to 40. I could still hear the solenoid chattering some even with the plugs out. I reinstalled the plugs and cranked again and, it was the same old chatter and slow revs. Then something went click and the entire electrical system went dead until I turned the key to the remove position and a few seconds passed. Now when I attempt to start it this happens every time.

What is wrong? Has the starter gone completely bad or did I fry my electrical system?

I actually did hear the engine fire one time even with the very slow revs. My heart about popped out of my chest! What a beautiful sound! I was afraid to let it run too long on jack stands so I shut her down.
So, I know the engine is eager to fire, I just can't get a reliable start. I'm so close I can smell the fumes.

I called my local parts supplier and starters are inexpensive (less than $50) should I just throw a new one on?
When giving advice or suggestions please keep in mind I don't know very much about vettes yet, but I am learning fast.

 

Did you check the battery, battery connections?

Dave

 

Yes, the battery and connections are in good condition. Was a new fully charged 900 CCA 12v battery.

Guess what I am looking for is an intermediary over-current protection some where in the electrical system for the starter, if it even exists.

 

I understand new battery but did you test the battery with a DMM what were the readings shelf condition vs at startup you said you lost the entire elect system does this include all accesories (lights ect). A new battery could still be bad I always look at the most obvious first.

Dave

 

No, I did not test batt with a DMM, however I had two additional 12v deep cycle marine batteries that I use to back up my sump pumps in my house. I tried both of those and got the same result.

The only accessories that function is the clock and a weak hum with the key inserted. As soon as I turn the key to the forward position (not start) everything dies until I return the key to the remove position. Even turning the key backward to the accessory position kills everything including the clock.

 

have you physically cleaned them? or is your assesment a visual assesment?

 

I cleaned them with a wire brush, Tomarrow I will do an ohms check between the battery terminals and the starter wire just to make sure.

I don't want to waste anyones time, thanks for your help.

 

because of the fiber glass body the grounding issue will always be around, and where in steel bodied cars you can get away with alot of poor grounds in the vettes they are killers and when electrical gremlins pop up start thinking about the ground issue immediately.

 

because of the fiber glass body the grounding issue will always be around, and where in steel bodied cars you can get away with alot of poor grounds in the vettes they are killers and when electrical gremlins pop up start thinking about the ground issue immediately. good luck

 

Well, I ohmed the wires from the positive battery terminal to the starter wire harness. From the negitive battery terminal to the ground terminal on the case of the starter. I had complete continuity. 0.0 to 0.1 ohms respectivly. Also measured 13.6 volts at battery and at the starter wire harness to ground. Yet still have solenoid chatter with very slow revs when cranking engine, unless the spark plugs are removed then engine turns freely with no chatter.

Bad starter?, perhaps bad solenoid?

HELP!

 

at first thought i don't see why it would be a solenoid that should be a go/no go type of connection. If you know you have good connections i would think the starter may be bad, what was the resistance on the starter Positive cable to the battery positive cable???

 

0.0 ohms from positive battery term. to pos. start term.

 

Follow the negative cable from your battery to the chassis ground underneath the car. Unscrew the bolt and clean it up real good and put it back in and reconnect battery. Take a dmm and check from positive terminal to the frame and you should get a beep ( or very low resistance reading) This may not fix your problem, but it will eliminate bad grounding for your electrical system either way

 

Been there, done that. I removed every grounding bolt on the car, cleaned both the harness and the frame until bare metal was visable. 0.1 ohms with Fluke DMM from neg battery terminal to anywhere on the frame.

I spent about 4 hours today under my red addiction today!

 

OK, go from engine ground, say a carb air cleaner stud, or maybe some other good solid metal engine piece, and take the positive to the battery cable stud on starter, you obviously should measure battery voltage.....pull the coil wire, or HEI + wire, and crank the car,....see what the voltmeter says during cranking.....IF it's LO, you have a bad connection from somewhere.....you can not find these sort of connections with an ohm meter, just not going to indicate correctly, trust me, been there seen that....

IF not correct, we need to get the negative terminal on the battery post itself through a long lead, to one side of DVM, and the other lead to the engine....DVM draws no current to speak of, so lead length is not ciritical....once again as before, crank engine, and you better not see any voltage differances....damn lo to nearly zero....if you see anything over .3 volts or so, you need to go from frame itself with a CLEAN bare steel connection...try say a brake line up at the master cylinder....on one lead, and the engine frame/ground at the other...carb stud once again?? and then crank again....if you don't see any drop, you have a bad frame to battery connections up under the battery box on the negative side, OR at the battery itself....


edit....OH, if you check out completely on the ground side as nearly zero voltage drop....you still can have a bad + battery cable to the starter, and you need meter from the + of the battery itself to the starter battery stud while cranking....once again looking for voltage drop across the battery cable....same as before going through the frame.....voltage is being dropped by SOME bad connection somewhere...and so to find it.....

GENE

 

well it may be time for a new starter, it seems to me like you have checked all the obvious connections. good luck

 

What about the ground from the starter to the engine block? might be worth checking ( and both fuses from the pos batt to the starter as well).....Obviously when you take the plugs out you decrease the resistive load on the starter so the motor will spin faster......still seems like something that can't supply decent current.....(either battery or VERY poor connections)....Have you tried jump starting the car? If the engine turns faster with a jump it has to be battery (I know youv'e tried other batts).....On the other hand, I just recently changed to a high torque mini starter and have had perfect results after some problematic past...........good luck.

 

Thanks all, will try again tomarrow.

My assembly manual shipped today, should help if I am able to read the pages. Flying blind with out it.

 

Hi, I once had a problem with the starter itself, where it physically bolts to the block. I found out that there was paint on the block there and that was causing a bad ground, sounded weird ( you would think the bolts themselves would'a grounded it ) but it cleared up after that, all the grounds need to be as clean as you can make 'em. Give it a look and see what ya got. Good luck,,,,,,,,,,
Peace,,,,,,,Craig

 

Well it's not the starter.

I didn't have much time to work on it today. So I used a pair of jumper cables and attached the battery pos to the start terminal and the neg to the frame and...it fired right up ( with the help of a little starter fluid).


I purchased some 2 ga copper wire and copper binding posts to replace the existing aluminum wires.

It was so beautiful to hear that engine roar to life and contiunue to run. My wife said the whole house was shaking as it woke her up from her nap. I smiled ear to ear.

Thankyou all sooo much for your help. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me but this step was really important.
I hope I can rely on the same sound advice I recieved here in the future. Thanks again!