Intermittent Starter Problem
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Intermittent Starter Problem
Intermittently, my starter decides to barely crank. After a few cyclings of the ignition, She'll crank and start up normally. Occurs hot or cold; no temp factor whatsoever.I'm convinced I have a weak starter, and i'll probably just try changing it tomorrow. (looks like the easiest thing to change on this car; was under it on a lift today for all fluid/lube/alignment/greasing PM's) The guy i bought it from says he doesn't think it's the starter (Don't know him from adam) he says these cars are plagued with grounding problems and this is most likely the cause. I don't buy it, but I figured i'd post to see if anyone has had this experience before I replace uneedingly. Any input? Battry is brand new and i have load tested it. Pos and neg cables appear to be secure and non-corroded as well. I'm sure I'll end up just changing the piece-of-cake starter and all will be fine. Agree?
Thanks all!
Thanks all!
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
You have symptoms of a poor battery cable connection! Remove the battery cables (neg first) and clean the battery posts and the cable lugs and replace (neg last). While the battery cables are off, check for a tight nut on the large cable on the starter. Whenever the starter weakly cranks, measure the battery terminal voltage while cranking. The battery voltage must not fall below 9.0 volts or the battery is discharged (if so, its no load terminal volts will be 12.0 volts or lower) or the battery is at the end of its life. You could also have a worn starter solenoid which switches current to the starter motor and the only way to tell this is to remove the starter solenoid and examine the condition of the switch contacts on the starter solenoid.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,858
Likes: 7
From: Santa Maria CA
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
I had a similar problem with my other car, not the Vette. I did the easy things first. I made sure all the starter wires and battery cables were on tight and sprayed them really good with some electronic connector cleaning spray. Problem went away. :D :D
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,270
Likes: 26
From: Winchester VA
Cruise-In V Veteran
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (jfb)
You have symptoms of a poor battery cable connection! Remove the battery cables (neg first) and clean the battery posts and the cable lugs and replace (neg last). While the battery cables are off, check for a tight nut on the large cable on the starter. Whenever the starter weakly cranks, measure the battery terminal voltage while cranking. The battery voltage must not fall below 9.0 volts or the battery is discharged (if so, its no load terminal volts will be 12.0 volts or lower) or the battery is at the end of its life. You could also have a worn starter solenoid which switches current to the starter motor and the only way to tell this is to remove the starter solenoid and examine the condition of the switch contacts on the starter solenoid.
Generally, a bad starter will begin to develop a dead spot, in which it will either work fine or not at all. What your describing sounds like a high resistance/low voltage problem. I have seen the symptoms you describe many times and start by doing what jfb said, almost always a bad connection.
Drifting
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,647
Likes: 28
From: Woodbridge NJ
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
I'd like to comment on the grouding problem you state the owner mentioned. I agree with JFB. Generally speaking you can look at a ground wire and it appears to be fine when in essence it could be faulty. You cannot see a faulty ground with the naked eye. I'm in the process of locating all the grounding points on my 84 and cleaning them. This is just my thought.
Good luck
Good luck
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Brimis)
Thanks for the input all! I'm going out to the garage now and i'll be on this today. (Also changing water pump, on lift yesterday,; weep hole is just starting....) I'll reply on how I made out!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
Well, still no answer, but it didn't happen today anyhow. I'll have to make this the next task. Seems since i am new to the corvette world I realized the water pump change on this car is anything but typical small chevy. First I was given the incorrect water pump by the local "Parts Store." By the time I got the A/C And smog junk out of the way i realized this. Of course when returning to the store, turns out they made a mistake and "don't stock the one I need." :mad This doesn't help on a sunday afternoon...Anyhow, I was lucky enough to find a parts store open that had one :cheers: Just took way too long. This is what makes you a pro i'll tell ya. If anyone needs to know what to expect in changing a 1985 Vette Water pump, Now I can help....LOL. Next up: Starter problem. I would have sworn i'd easily have had enough time to do both.....
:chevy
:chevy
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
Clenaed the ever loving you know what out of the battery terminals today, and although they didnt look horrible, so far so good. Time will tell if i need to look into this any further. Of course it's going to snow here tomorrow (can't take it anymore) so i'll be on the shelf for at least a few days. Thanks for your help guys
:seeya
:seeya
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Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (Jloshotz)
Prblem got to the point of obviousness. Soleniod connection to starter motor bus had stripped and loosened....Problem fixed; car starts so beautifully now! :chevy :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
From: Long Island New York
Re: Intermittent Starter Problem (rick lambert)
:party: Boy, I'll tell ya, these guys know their stuff. Glad it fixed the problem :cheers:
Yes they sure do. Thanks Rick!
:iagree:
