Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Car guys- starter help

By the way....I've personally touched probably 75% of the nuts and bolts on this car. 18 months of blood and sweat.

I may be rich; but I'm no pussy.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13448730/1

Starter solenoid it could be!

Trying to get some insight on how best to start the process of elimination between the NSS, ignition switch and the starter solenoid.

Appreciate the input.

Then you put something together wrong. lol

I used to own a 69 Chevelle SS automatic. I'm also an ASE Master Tech so here goes.

If it starts with your "bump" switch, then there is no power at the little wire on the solenoid. Check the purple wire under the dash at the ignition switch. The switch is on the top of the column under the dash. Not up by the key. There is a little rod that connects them. If no power at the purple wire then check other big wire (? red) going into the switch. If it is ok then probably the switch is bad.

If no power at the red wire then check the neutral safety switch. Located on the side of the transmission.

On cars this old you sometimes have to check the starter wire at all connectors.

Good luck!

John

Bill, I can offer no help regarding your starting difficulties as I’m about as mechanically inclined as a Walrus but I do appreciate sentimentality and grand gestures. The story of finding it, restoring it and giving it back to your wife was awesome, especially since her dad was able to be a part of it.

Good luck figuring out the problem.

Now THAT is helpful!

I've only managed to make sure connections are tight, and have checked all you've mentioned above.

The car got delivered yesterday morning and I'm in the middle of a relocate from AK to NM, so have no access to any of my tools, but will do a bit of shopping tomorrow and follow up to see if I can check some of the continuity between the NSS and the starter solenoid.

Tks.

You might try Wiggling the connector at the neutral safety switch while someone else tries starting it. try in both park and neutral. Be careful, and don't get run over!

John

If you are moving to Albuquerque, look out. They will steal that car in a heartbeat..

Carlsbad; unfortunately.

She has an onboard GPS tracker and a few other tricks to help minimize the potential.

Wife and kids are still in AK, and wife texts me every time I leave the house in it, wondering where I am headed...haha.

Replace the wobbler arm.

Tighten the canootin valve.

So you think it’s the solenoid but you think tapping on it to get it to start/troubleshoot the problem is a bad idea?

Check the air pressure in left rear tire Should 38.5 psi. Also this is the most important part make sure your driver side window is half way down.

Gee you’d think the thing might have a starter relay that is bad, or has a bad wire.

Neutral, or in your case, park safety switch or related wiring.

Solenoid

Bad spot in armature

Worn armature bushings allowing armature to touch a field

Smacking starter with a hammer sometimes wakes up or changes things in the starter/solenoid & it starts, for a while. But it will fail again if that's it.

My first wife's father, life long mechanic, would tell Chevy owners to find a Ford hub cap and throw it in the trunk.

That should help/

This is a reasonable list of possibilities, but doesn't give any diagnostics.

NSS - first and easiest test is to hold the key in the start position and work the shifter back and forth through park and neutral a few times. If this makes it start or at least spin, the switch is bad or out of adjustment. If no response, a test light will show if power is getting to the small terminal on the solenoid when the key is turned. No power means bad wiring, bad ignition switch, or bad NSS. More probing with a test light will isolate the problem.

Solenoid - they almost never go bad on these starters.

Worn bushings - Starter would still click, but crank slow or not at all if this were the problem

Tapping on starter makes it work - This indicates worn brushes in starter. If the brushes in a GM starter don't make contact with the armature, the solenoid won't pull in even though power is getting to it. The starter motor provides a current path for the solenoid winding that pulls in the core. There is a second winding that holds it in once the starter begins spinning. The reason tapping works is that it may bring the brushes into contact with the armature. This usually only works a few times so it is a good indication that the starter needs to be rebuilt.

Heat soak - I have only seen this a couple of times and both were on big blocks in very hot weather. I suspect that the solenoid simply didn't create enough magnetic force to pull in because of the high temp, but I am not sure.


Jerry

I bet it's close to the flywheel........

99% of starter problems on those old Chevys is the Solenoid. Either the disc as mentioned before is corroded from arcing or the positive cable stud that touches the disc is worn to a minimum/no contact with the disc or the stud that connects to the starter strap is shot. There is a reason they sold rebuild kits for them, as it was common and easily fixed.

Alligator clips on your volt/ohm meter, record or remember the exact voltage at EACH accessible point, in logical succession from the battery clear down to the solenoid stud. Do not waste time taking voltages on the motor (fat) cables. You are checking the solenoid activation circuit only, where your problem is. You are looking for voltage drops at the access points, possibly as low as 3 tenths of a volt if the 'pull in' winding of the solenoid is weak.