[RamAirDave]

I know many of you guys are much smarter than myself when it comes to electrical, so figured I would run this by you. Haven't dug into it yet, just thought I would get some thoughts beforehand.

Harness is original, but in good shape. Hasn't been cut up, car stored indoors since the early 80's. The only part of the harness that I remember having to repair was the brown tach wire at the coil. New ACD battery, cables, "correct" repo starter w/ solenoid through Ricks. Everything electrical on the car works fine, no charging/drain/ground issues apparent. All the connections at the solenoid are tight.

Issue is: when you turn the key, sometimes it cranks just fine, sometimes it just clicks. And that in sequence, one time it will crank, 1 second later it will click. Sometimes it will crank a few times in a row, sometimes it clicks a few times in a row, only to crank the next turn of the key. Completely random, no apparent rhyme or reason. The battery and charging system are fine, and temperature has zero effect.

I'm thinking its something with the solenoid, even though its all new. I dont see how it would be a "lack of juice" problem considering heat does not affect the symptom and it will be perfectly fine just one second later.

Appreciate any thoughts and suggestions :thumbsup:

 

[wiskeesour]

your solenoid. no doubt about it.

 

[SixtyAte]

Make sure that you have clean terminal ends on battery, tight cable to starter. Solenoid wires are connected good and clean. If all is in good order and your battery is good, not borderline...change the solenoid. We even would loosen the nut on the main power bolt on the solenoid and spin the stud then tighten it back down. Sometimes it gets a bad contact point on the disk.


Kev

 

[CFunK]

RAD,

I have the same problem, completely random. I have gone through all the connectors and even swapped out the solenoid and it persists.

It's really more of an annoyance than anything.

 

[wiskeesour]

cfunk, the brushes internal to the starter are dirty. spray inside starter housing with wd40. youll be fine. if everything is as you state.

 

[blainedoe]

If it's a rebuilt unit you can get a bad starter or solenoid real often always have them check it before you leave and even thats no gauantee it's good.

 

[77thor]

check the battery connections to starter....
I had the same issue once and it turned out to be loose/corroded connection at the starter.

 

[JimM]

Dave, you'e either not delivering enough voltage to the solenoid, or your rebuilt starter motor is bad.

Do this: get a voltmeter with aligator clips on the leads.
Connect one lead to the solenoid purple wire connection, the other to the solenoid battery connection, or directly to the positive battery terminal.

The meter reading should not be more than 1 volt when it's cranking, preferably mush less.
Mostly look for a difference though. If the meter reads a different voltage when it works than it does when it doesn't, you have something bad in the car, track that purple wire and check / clean / tighten all the connections.

You can troubleshoot further by taking meter reading back up to each connection on the purple wire, with the other meter lead connected to battery power (the BAT terminal on the fusebox will do too.)

The purple wire goes through:
Firewall bulkhead connector
Neutral Safety or clutch safty switch
Ignition switch.

From there, it's the big red wire to the fusebox and then the horn relay and then the wire across the rad support to the junction block and then the battery.

A reasonable possibility is a loose or correded terminal where the purple wire or the red wire go into the ignition switch.

If you are delivering a full battery power to the solenoid (will be lower than 12 volts when the motor is cranking) then the meter in the test will read near zero and your starter or solenoid is bad.

 

[Joe Harrison]

No mention of grounding yet. Check and make sure all your grounds are on, good and do not have resistance or very little. Also check where they attach to. Also look at neg battery cable connection to the frame or block. Make sure all grounding and battery attachment points are paint free, some diletric grease works well to prevent corrosion. Also one area to check is where the starter is mounted to the block. Don't paint this area, leave it bare so the starter has a good point to ground and does not have to do it through the paint.

Good luck Dave, hope you find it.
Joe

 

[RamAirDave]

Thanks for all the info guys.

Put a new ACD solenoid on it, and it cranked over 10 times in a row without a single click. Wouldnt have done that before, so so far so good.

The batt post on the solenoid was just a hair loose, but I'm not sure if that happened when taking the battery cable off. I went ahead and swapped it anyway.