[T.Huck '71]

Folks,
Upon taking my Corvette to my local quick lube for an oil change, and having to wait over an hour, (not so quick it seems), when time to pull it into the bay, my car would not start. '71, 350, automatic. Turn the key, nothing, in neuteral, nothing, checked all fuses, nothing. pushed it in, changes the oil, attempted to "jump"the selonoid, just spun. The starter, and ignition switch are less than 1 year old. Has battery juice. Does any one have any suggestions?

T.Huck

 

[C3blackvette]

Folks,
Upon taking my Corvette to my local quick lube for an oil change, and having to wait over an hour, (not so quick it seems), when time to pull it into the bay, my car would not start. '71, 350, automatic. Turn the key, nothing, in neuteral, nothing, checked all fuses, nothing. pushed it in, changes the oil, attempted to "jump"the selonoid, just spun. The starter, and ignition switch are less than 1 year old. Has battery juice. Does any one have any suggestions?

T.Huck

Turning the key does nothing, but jumping the starter solenoid will turn the engine over. The key switch connects via a rod down to an ignition switch on the steering column. This switch could have loosened up and be out of position (It could also be a bad switch). A fuseable link may have let go. The most simple problem could be a battery terminal connection that is making a poor connection. I would clean and tighten the battery terminals first.

 

[[email protected]]

I m going fuseable link.. common failure in these old cars..its right at the starter

 

[TimAT]

I m going fuseable link.. common failure in these old cars..its right at the starter

Me too. The harness to the starter is right down there where the exhaust system keeps it nice and cooked.

Later ones are even better. Some rocket science guy at GM put a connector on the harness just right of the distributor on the firewall. ALL the connections to the starter, including the fuse links run thru it. SOme heat, some vibration, the connector gets a little corrosion, gets hot, and melts the plastic. On the plus side, it's pretty easy to replace the starter extension harness instead of the engine harness.

 

[[email protected]]

nice and cooked..I like that:thumbsup3:

 

[C3blackvette]

nice and cooked..I like that:thumbsup3:

Well done I guess?

 

[toobroketoretire]

"Jumped" the selonoid, just spun.

T.Huck

What spun? The starter or the engine? If the starter just spun you have a bad Bendix. If the engine spun but didn't start then you have a lack of ignition. If you jumped the solenoid but didn't have your key on it would start but die the moment you quit jumping it.

 

[freshselect]

T.Huck, we need a bit more info to actually narrow it down. Both Toobroke's & fishslayer's answer sound probable but without all info it can only be a "possible answer"

I am going to assume you meant that your starter only spun when it was jumped.. meaning your bendix is bad (like Toobroke mentioned). Replace it and all should be good. It's not a very hard fix either.

 

[Lethal Tendencies]

That happened to me in my '77 turned out to be fuse able link connection

 

[T.Huck '71]

When I said that the selonoid just spun, it was just that, not the engine, just the starter motor, and it was very week also. could this be the neuteral safety switch? Is the fuseable link in the wiring? Something is also bleeding off voltage, because the battery power is going away faster than i believe it should......

T.Huck

 

[C3blackvette]

When I said that the selonoid just spun, it was just that, not the engine, just the starter motor, and it was very week also. could this be the neuteral safety switch? Is the fuseable link in the wiring? Something is also bleeding off voltage, because the battery power is going away faster than i believe it should......

T.Huck

Do you have a voltmeter (digital preferred) that you can check the battery at rest voltage with?

 

[toobroketoretire]

When I said that the selonoid just spun, it was just that, not the engine, just the starter motor, and it was very week also. could this be the neuteral safety switch? Is the fuseable link in the wiring? Something is also bleeding off voltage, because the battery power is going away faster than i believe it should......

T.Huck

You either have a bad Bendix or several missing flywheel ring gear teeth.

 

[[email protected]]

When I said that the selonoid just spun, it was just that, not the engine, just the starter motor, and it was very week also. could this be the neuteral safety switch? Is the fuseable link in the wiring? Something is also bleeding off voltage, because the battery power is going away faster than i believe it should......

T.Huck

I thought you meant the engine just spun.. like Toobroke said..Bendix ..I would load test the battery too