Intermittent starting
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Intermittent starting
I have a 1989 automatic. Some days it starts, some days it doesn't. It will go for weeks and start every time, then go for weeks without starting. Start one day not the next etc. No pattern. Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong? When it doesn't start there is no clicking sound, nothing. When it does, it kicks right off. I have had the battery tested and it tests ok. Thanks for any one's help.
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 117
Likes: 1
From: Acworth Ga
Remove the starter from the bell housing and make sure it has a clean surface to mount on. If there is a lot of gritty oil and grease it won't ground properly. Experience tells me this. I had a 1984 Firebird daily driver that would start in the morning but after work nothing. After I would get it going again by popping the clutch while rolling it would start again every time until - after work. Cleaned the mounting surface one day and the problem never repeated.
Good luck
Good luck
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
If you've got no clicking, the chances are REALLY REALLY close to 100% that your problem is VATS.
Even if the starter is dead you should be able to hear the starter relay clicking, which is controlled by VATS.
Check the classic VATS problems: dirty resistor pellet in the ignition key and broken VATS wires in the steering column. Also, the key contacts in the ignition switch can get dirty, bent or broken. In my case one contact was bent. I have not had a VATS failure since I replaced the ignition switch about 15 years ago (there was a recall/upgrade and I got a new ignition switch and new keys that were slightly longer than the original keys).
Even if the starter is dead you should be able to hear the starter relay clicking, which is controlled by VATS.
Check the classic VATS problems: dirty resistor pellet in the ignition key and broken VATS wires in the steering column. Also, the key contacts in the ignition switch can get dirty, bent or broken. In my case one contact was bent. I have not had a VATS failure since I replaced the ignition switch about 15 years ago (there was a recall/upgrade and I got a new ignition switch and new keys that were slightly longer than the original keys).
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,339
Likes: 2
From: port charlotte fl
I have a 1989 automatic. Some days it starts, some days it doesn't. It will go for weeks and start every time, then go for weeks without starting. Start one day not the next etc. No pattern. Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong? When it doesn't start there is no clicking sound, nothing. When it does, it kicks right off. I have had the battery tested and it tests ok. Thanks for any one's help.
