Lately I have had some starting problems. From cold my 1986 starts no problem. If it is warm then I turn the key and only the lights on the dash come on. No starter noise, nothing. It is an automatic so I have tried starting in neutral but no luck. Is this my starter solenoid going?

Thanks

 

When it won't crank, that is the time to do some diagnostic testing to determine the cause. Unplug the gear selector switch at the base of the gear lever and jump the socket that goes to this switch. Measure the voltage on the jumper when you hit crank position on the ign sw, you should see 12v. If you have 12v and no cranking, then you have a battery connection problem or a starter motor problem. You can jump 12v to the jumper and the starter should crank proving the starter is ok. If no 12v, then remove the kick panel above the driver's feet and find the 2 wires from above the steering column and go to a 2 pin connector in the wiring harness(goes to VATS module). Unplug, insert key in the ignition and measure the resistance across the wires from the steering column. It should measure the same as the pellet in the ign key. If more than 4% from the pellet, or over 13k ohms, you need a new ign lock which will have a new set of contacts that make connection to the pellet. You can temporarily bypass VATS by connecting a 1/4W 5% resistor from Radio Shack the same value as your pellet (sometimes it requires several resistors in series or parallel to get the exact value). The bypass resistor must be within about 4% of the assigned value which has been posted before and you should be able to find the list in search. Don't permanently bypass VATS because 99% of thefts are done by bashing the column and jumping the ignition.

 

....but it does crank at cold, my bet is your solenoid is going south, like you suspect.

 

That's my first guess, heat-soaked starter solenoid.

 

I'd go with starter solenoid.