Hi;
I have a 1984 corvette. The problem I am having is every few days when I turn the key nothing happens. If I hook up a jump box it fires right up, also it will bump start. I have power on the instruments and the battery was tested under load and is good. Any help please.

Thanx
Dave

 

First, remove the battery cables (neg first) and clean the cable lugs, bolts, and the battery terminals and replace the cables (neg last). You must have very low resistance connections to supply the 100+ amps the starter requires. If you still have problems you can test the battery by measuring the battery terminal voltage in crank position. The battery should not fall below 9.0 volts or the battery is discharged, cable connections dirty, or the battery is at the end of its life. Another cause might be the starter. At the end of the starter solenoid stroke, two large copper contacts are forced together that switch current to the starter motor. These contacts get blackened and pitted and eventually don't make good enough connection to operate the starter motor. One test is to keep hitting crank over and over and if it eventually cranks, then these contacts are the likely problem. You must hear the starter solenoid click each time you hit crank, if not, you may have a defective clutch safety switch. Unplug the safety switch and jump the socket and try a crank. You can replace these contacts if you want to work on the starter.
You can tell the state of charge by measuring the battery terminal voltage under no load, 12.0 volts and lower, discharged (charge the battery up overnight with a charger). 12.9 volts and higher, fully charged and linear in between. The dash voltmeter reads low if the engine is not running, so don't trust it.
It is not a good idea to push the car and pop the clutch because you will soon damage the OD (no asking me how I know).

 

i agree with jfb's post
i had similar problems,starter was the culprit !
we changed some stuff on it and it doesn't fail at all !

 

Thanx for the help. I pulled the starter and found that the positive post on the solenoid was moving around loose. Replaced the starter and have not had any problems since. Thanx again for the responses.

Dave