Very strange problem
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Joined: Mar 2001
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From: ca
Very strange problem
What happened is as strange as what I have found so far.
Drove the '87 4+3 Z-51 for a short drive the other morning. Ran fine. Parked it on the driveway for 1/2 hour and decided to move it into the garage, 50 ft away. Turned the engine off, jumped out and could hear something running. Very loud. No, really loud. Thought it was something in the garage, no maybe outside the garage. It was the Vette. Very loud. I lifted the hood and could not tell where it was coming from. The radiator fan was not turning. I had clean clothes on and didn't want to check the aux fan. I went to the pass side and it was coming from that area, but way too loud for the heater fan. Got back in the car and turned key on/off, still loud. Tried to start the engine, and it did nothing. Got out of the car. Still loud. Panic loud, like a stuck throttle. Turned the radio off, nothing, pushed the "off" on the AC (C68 Climate control) and the noise stopped.
Tried to start the engine. Dead. Tried again and it struggled to life. AC blows cold and turns on/off/on. Turned key off, everything, OK. Restarted with same results. Charging at 13.7-8 volts.
Three hours later, click(more of a repeating hammering click) and no start. Battery at 12.02 volts. One hour later, the battery is still at 12.02. No recovery. On the charger, 1/2 hour at 10 Amps and it thinks it's fully charged. Not good, too fast.
Pulled the starter and the solenoid looks good. Nothing binding, the contacts didn't seem overheated. With jumper cables to the battery in a Corvair I'm fixing up, it spun, but not very fast and very noisy.
I have a marginal battery and a toasted starter motor. What happened??
Can the starter contacts stick and not engage the drive, just spin the motor (starter motor)?? What does turning the AC "off" have to do with that???
Drove the '87 4+3 Z-51 for a short drive the other morning. Ran fine. Parked it on the driveway for 1/2 hour and decided to move it into the garage, 50 ft away. Turned the engine off, jumped out and could hear something running. Very loud. No, really loud. Thought it was something in the garage, no maybe outside the garage. It was the Vette. Very loud. I lifted the hood and could not tell where it was coming from. The radiator fan was not turning. I had clean clothes on and didn't want to check the aux fan. I went to the pass side and it was coming from that area, but way too loud for the heater fan. Got back in the car and turned key on/off, still loud. Tried to start the engine, and it did nothing. Got out of the car. Still loud. Panic loud, like a stuck throttle. Turned the radio off, nothing, pushed the "off" on the AC (C68 Climate control) and the noise stopped.
Tried to start the engine. Dead. Tried again and it struggled to life. AC blows cold and turns on/off/on. Turned key off, everything, OK. Restarted with same results. Charging at 13.7-8 volts.
Three hours later, click(more of a repeating hammering click) and no start. Battery at 12.02 volts. One hour later, the battery is still at 12.02. No recovery. On the charger, 1/2 hour at 10 Amps and it thinks it's fully charged. Not good, too fast.
Pulled the starter and the solenoid looks good. Nothing binding, the contacts didn't seem overheated. With jumper cables to the battery in a Corvair I'm fixing up, it spun, but not very fast and very noisy.
I have a marginal battery and a toasted starter motor. What happened??
Can the starter contacts stick and not engage the drive, just spin the motor (starter motor)?? What does turning the AC "off" have to do with that???
Last edited by RichardJ; May 26, 2005 at 09:29 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,032
Likes: 4
Originally Posted by RichardJ
Thanks for the reply.
Starter had very little kick and noisy, so it will be replaced today. Why it stopped spinning when I pushed the AC "off" button still puzzles me.
Starter had very little kick and noisy, so it will be replaced today. Why it stopped spinning when I pushed the AC "off" button still puzzles me.
Good news is starters are cheap for L98's
