well ever since i did the heads, cam and yada yada my car is weird with starting. Sometimes when i go to start it nothing happens. At first i thought the battery might be the cause since it sat for 2 months but i charged it with no result. I'll turn the key, nothing will happen. Give it a few more tries and sometimes after the second try, sometimes after the tenth try it finally turns over and starts.

any way to confirm it is the starter? anything else it could be?

thanks guys,

Dave

 

Same symptoms I had. Replaced starter last week and problem was gone.

 

Had a similar problem and ran about a 12 guage wire from the starter solenoid up to near the battery. I used it two ways; when the car wouldn't start I could measure the voltage at the wire and see if the problem was ahead of the starter. Then I touched the wire to the positive terminal on the battery. I was able to confirm that the starter was working and I went looking the other way. Turned out to be the starter interupt relay in the security system. It was faulty and not making connection consistently.

If the voltage is present at the wire when you turn the key then the starter itself is likely.

Hope this helps

 

I had to do excatly what you did. I had to pop the hood, run a heavy wire from the starter solenoid terminal to the battery, touch it on the battery terminal to crank over the car, while the key was in the "on" position. When the motor fired up I would just pull out the wire from the starter by hand since it was just wrapped arround the starter terminal by hand with a "J" hook bend on the end. I had to do this everytime I shut the car off till I got it fixed. This bypasses the VATS completely and like you said verifies that your starter works fine after the VATS. I turned out to be the "Starter Interrupt Relay" inside the dash also.

 

I am not sure if this procedure will work on your LT1 Vette, but here it is in case it does. LT1 guys chime in if you would.

Here is what you need to do before you go replacing starters.

To verify that your starter is fine, you have to bypass the VATS starting circuit. You do that quite simply just like the previous post mentioned.

What you need: A 6-7 foot piece of thick wire

How to do it

1. Turn the ignition key "Off"

2. Run a long, thick wire from the small terminal of the starter solenoid across the top of the motor to the battery. Bend one end of the wire in a "J" hook by hand. Reach down from the top of the passanger side of the car and wrap that "J" hook arround the small terminal of the starter with your fingers. You'll feel which is the small terminal with your fingers, you can't see it from above. It's a little hard to reach in there. Now run the rest of the wire across the top of the motor to over by the battery, holding it down with the windshield wiper, away from moving parts and metal. Verify that the "J" hook end is only touching the small terminal of the starter solenoid and not the others too.

3. Turn the ignition key to the "On" positon and leave it there.

4. Grab the battery end of the wire and touch it againt the Positive + battery terminal.

The starter should crank the motor over as you hold the wire to the Positive + battery terminal and start the car. Once the car is started, remove the wire from the battery terminal to stop the starter from cranking. Now simply pull the rest of the wire out by hand from the top of the motor.

If the starter cranks, the problem is your "Starter Interupt Relay" that is located behind the dash. You will have to carry that wire with you in the car and start the car this way each time you turn it off untill you fix it.

If the starter does not crank, the starter is bad and you need a new one.

 

thanks for the input guys.

jabez - i have a feeling is may be the starter

lavidaloca - what did you use to check the voltage?

86pacer - how thick is thick, any specific guage?

 

Not sure what guage. The wire I used was about 3 times thicker than the standard 18 guage wiring found under the hood.

 

Use a voltmeter to check the voltage. It is not critical, if you don't have a meter a 12v bulb will work to see if you have voltage there.