Any mechanics? I have a question.

jmatt

jmatt

1,000+ Posts
I'm basically looking to see if I get the same response I got from someone else (aka a second opinion).

We have a car (1988 Gran Fury we inherited from the M-I-L after she passed away last summer) that doesn't want to start. Sometimes.

This started happening last October, maybe late September.

When it starts, it kicks right off. And the car runs like a champ.

Other times, nothing, just the click of the ignition switch.

And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. It doesn't drag down trying to start, no clicks or rattling like when the batttery is dead. Just a faint buzzing or whirring that I'm pretty sure is the electric fuel pump.

Even when the car won't start, everything else electric works, lights are bright, radios, wipers, etc all work.

Also, it's been getting progressively worse. At first, it only happened once in a while, but now it seems to be about a 50-50 proposition. Or maybe even 60-40 or worse that it won't start.

It has a brand-new regulator (bought and installed it Sunday), and I had the (only one year old) battery tested tonight and it's good.

Any ideas on what it might be?

ADDED: And yes, I checked and cleaned the battery posts and the cable connectors.
 
The starter motor is not turning, so either electricity is not getting to the starter, or the starter itself is bad. The current goes from the battery to the switch-good chance the switch is bad, there are contacts in there that get worn, and only touch intermittently.
You put a test light down on the terminal on the starter that brings the current from the switch. If it lights up when the starter does not work, you have eliminated everything but the starter. The starter solenoid could be bad, if it is a separate starter solenoid. If it is on the starter, it is usually better to just get a good rebuilt starter with the solenoid on it.
 
I would start with the starter solenoid since you're apparently not hearing it engage. If it's getting voltage, that's the most likely problem. It's pretty easy to diagnose by following the voltage...
 
If it isn't the solenoid it could be the starter.

When it happens you can tap on the starter and try again. Sometimes they get a dead spot on them where the bushing/brush, whatever it is touches the disk. I drove a car for 3 months like that when I was in college and broke until I saved enough money working at the grocery store and washing dishes to buy a new starter.

I kept a flashlight and ball peen hammer in the car.
 
I am going to bet dimes to dollars it's a dead spot in your starter. I had a truck that occasionally would do the same thing. I ended up keeping a golf club in the back of the cab in case I needed to reach up underneath and give the starter a good wrap or two. 99 percent of the time it was great.. then 1 percent I was bent over whacking the starter with the golf club and in two or three tries we were rolling again.

I also sometimes had luck shifting the automatic transmission back and forth a few times. Probably just enough vibration to move the starter off it's dead spot.
 
At least you didn't have to crawl under it with a jumper wire like my old Camaro. Safety tip - when trying to start the car after a few beers don't hold the copper part of the wire to the bolt. Yoy will have a nice set of "threaded" scars on your finger for years when the finger is welded to the bolt
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Between here and another site, I've pretty much settled on it being the solenoid or maybe the starter (they're combined on this car...).

I guess I'll be pulling the starter and taking it in to be tested Saturday. I love crawling around on the ground under cars...
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It is the solenoid. Guaranteed. Please don't drop the starter. If the solenoid on that model is located somewhere other than on the starter (which I bet it is) do that first. $10 fix. Please, please, please check it first. The dead as a doornail then regular start is the clue.
 
Well, unless the guy at the car parts place, and his on-line catalog is full of ****, the solenoid is integral to the starter on this car.
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So if the thing clicks, power is going to the solenoid on the starter, and you need to replace the starter. Try to get a decent brand, or you will be replacing it again in three months.
 
jmatt... give it a good whack and try to start the car before removing the thing. I don't think whacking it will make any difference if the solenoid is dead (a definite possiblity if internal) but might move the starter off the "dead spot" if that's the issue.

Texas Ed- it's was occasionally annoying, but simply not worth going up underneath and changing the stater out at that point in the trucks life. I did tellthe guy I sold it to about the potential problem and how to "treat" it...
 
When the truck had 150,000 on it I went the whacker route, but it was my third vehicle at the time. I just want to see if a good whack will get it to work more than anything.
 
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