Earlier today I went for the normal Sunday cruise and ended up at buddys house, after about an hour of chat I left, well at least that was the plan. Got in the "91" auto coupe turned the key and nothing, now what I mean by nothing I mean everything was on but the engine, so I take the key out and try again NOTHING, so I turn the key forward and move the shifter around and NOTHING. Thinking it was the VATS key I had my wife bring me the spare key and NOTHING. After another hour of frustration I walk over to the car and put in my orignal key and turn VAROOM"she's alive" but wait the starter is still trying to start the car turn the key back and starter is still going "first I could not get her to even click now I cant get her to quit" so I turned the key forward and the car starts, with the hood up I unhook the negative battery cable and shut off the car. So after the confusion and with the key in the on position I touched the the negitave cable to the terminal and there goes that crazy starter again so I disconnect. After two hamburgers come off the grill I go out to the car and with the key in the on position I try to connect the negitave cable again and she's quiet I get in and start the car just fine so on the way home I got lost and burned a half tank of gas ( on purpose ) get home and pull her into the garage shut her off and try to restart her and NOTHING :confused: :confused: :confused:
I called the local parts house and the guy said the starter is toast please help. I hope its the starter any ideas????????

 

Sounds like its time to get it rebuilt. And don't go to Autozone for a new one, i've only gotten junk when I buy them there. A good rebuild shop can do it in a few hours and not cost as much as a new one since they will just be replacing the broken parts. And yours sounds like the bendix (sp?) is sticking. good luck :cheers:

 

I had the same fun a couple of weeks ago when at the library 2 blocks from home the starter gave a half hearted crank and when I released the key it ran top speed and wouldn't shut off. Fortunately I have a wrench in the car to correct a corroded battery cable lug when necessary and disconnected the cable. I had it towed to my mechanic and he installed a new Delco. The removed starter was a rebuilt that worked fine for 2 years. I think I have about had it with rebuilt parts. That starter was giving me the same symptoms you had (no start, then after a wait it would start). Put a new Delco on and enjoy your vette!!!

 

As an engine builder for more years than i want to count, I have seen 2 variations that cause this condition MANY MANY MANY times. If you have been working around the starter lately check that wires to the solinoid are at leart 1/4inch apart. When hot the current can actually jump thru the insulation of the wires near the conection. Hence my love of Summit's Quick disconect harness. But most of the time it is caused by a design flaw. In the solinoid there is a large washer that acts as the contact point for the solinoid to activate the feild and spring it forward to flow the juice(I guess on the function since no-one ever told me exactly what is going on in that part durring ignition). If you take the cap off the solinoid(CAREFULLY!) you will see that the post for the battery wire is literally a copper bolt with a wire pinched or soldered to it. Looking at the copper bolt head you will see that it has an arc is worn out into it from the washer spinning against it durring starts. The reason it stayed on when you turned the key was that enough copper built up on the washer to allow them to stick and not spring back. You can usually stop it by giving the solinoid a firm smack to ring it like a bell not bend the case. If you took it apart like described before just loosen the post/bolt enough to turn it a 1/4th turn(so you get new surface for washer to grind on) , being careful not to break the small wire soldered to it, and replace the washer with stainless one from hardware store. This repair should out last the rest of the starter. I have done this on my 76 Camaro about 10years ago(seldom driven though) and still going strong. Dont look too badly on rebuilt ones, the new ones are the exact same also. :smash: The high torque starters are simmilar but i have not tried to get to the contact yet and dont recomend you try unless you have some experience.

 

Excellent write up!

 

Your 91 probably has the light weight GM/Toyota starter. You can take the cover off (4 small bolts hold it on) of the solenoid and see if the plunger can get stuck between the contacts. If thats the problem, go to the toyota dealership with the starter and ask them to match the parts in the solenoid to the rebuild kits they have. New contacts will run about 17 bucks. The plunger can be reused by filing the contact ring down flat.

The bendix gear could be sticking also. I haven't tired to fix one so I can't say what options you have there.

If you decide to get a new starter, get an after market high torque one. They cost the same as the GM starter and are supposed to last 20K starts which is about 240 - 280k miles.