hello everyone, i just bought a 1980 vette and have found problem after problem. unreal. first off, my wipers dont work and i can hear a clicking sound from behind the passenger seat. i put my hand on the solenoid thats clicking however the book calls this solenoid a defogger solenoid? how's that tied into the wipers? I did the old, take the negative terminal off the battery and hook up a test light, the light came on and the only wire, solenoid, or relay that i could find or unplug to make the light/short go out was the wires going to the starter? but all that really did was just disconnect power to the rest of the car, lol? :doh: please help?

wow that seems pretty complicated. I haven't really looked on my starter ( to the vette that is) but on my T-Bucket I had several wires on the same positive cable wire to get power to other things. It had several different wires on there. If you have more than one wire there have you checked each one and tested each one?

Sounds like you know what your doing. Only thing I can say is go from the starter and go back from there.

Good luck keep us updated.

You car is actually powered by the wires that go to the starter so you can't remove them.

I'm not dead-on sure about 1980, but most C3's the defogger is tied to the ventilation system. The later ones as I recall turn on the defogger when you use the high setting for the blower. Seems odd.

As for the wipers it's a fairly common thing by this age. Make sure they're plugged in (you can spot the motor easy with the hood up) turn em on and check for voltage at any of the terminals.

If there's no voltage, you likely have a bad or unplugged (common) switch

If the wipers don't work and there are other odd electric things going on, take a look at the ground wire at the starter- 10 or 12 gauge, black, and has a ring terminal on the end that LOOKS like it should go to the battery post on the solenoid. If you've had the starter replaced recently, it's a good bet that wire is hooked to the battery post on the solenoid- not the first time that's happened.

[QUOTE=TimAT;392453 If you've had the starter replaced recently, it's a good bet that wire is hooked to the battery post on the solenoid- not the first time that's happened.[/QUOTE]

I'd say thats it.I did that! Makes lotsa stuff not work!

Its a good idea, if you don t have one, to put a ground strap from engine directly to frame . grounds are a real problem on fibreglas body and it doesn t ground thru motormount

Its a good idea, if you don t have one, to put a ground strap from engine directly to frame . grounds are a real problem on fibreglas body and it doesn t ground thru motormount

Good Point. The factory used a ground cable from the right motor mount (frame side) to the block, but over the years it's likely someone tossed it.
I've seen trans shift cables welded up- electricity finds the shortest path and if that's it, it makes that cable one solid piece.

Tim so i understand, cause im not good with electrical stuff. check the ground cable on the starter to make sure it is tight? or is there another ground cable that comes off of the starter ground that is grounded also? I'm have electrical problems like the wiper doesn't work, or it will come on by itself and wont stop, and i have no turn signals.