OK, this is interesting

[stephen newberg]

Well, yesterday I moved the old girl out onto the grass to do some cleaning and everything was fine until I tried to put her back away. No start. Battery is fine (12.8v standing cold), juice gets to the lights and such, but not even a click off the relay. Totally dead. Anyone have a thought? Fortunately she is now clean enough to even look great in the sun where she sits, as we have a week of sunny ahead of us...

pax, smn

 

[sperold]

Starter Switch.
Do the Battery, Oil, CEL and other lights stay on with the key in the start position?
It is not the key operated thing on the right side of the steering wheel, it is on the left side down near the dash in the steering column.
They usually give you a few more starts after they start acting silly, so try again from time to time.
You see it when you remove the bottom plate that hold the column to the dash.

 

[tery]

I cleaned Chastity's engine and then got a no start which was a surprise cause it was fine and not acting up at all. Turned out to be the starter and I guess water/chemicals got into the starter enough to **** it since it was pretty old. If you ran water on it such that the starter got wet, I'd look there..JMHO

 

[stephen newberg]

Got lights on dash fine, and no water under the hood. I am sort of suspecting a long term corrosion of a power line to make an open somewhere in the starting electrics. Finding it will be a hassle, though. Oh well...

pax, smn

 

[stephen newberg]

Yup, that is it. Got it up on a lift yesterday and could get at the starter. Engages but does not turn. On removing it, the main power line is DOA. As this is the original starter, with 16 years and 200K+ on it, I think I will just put in a new one rather than rebuild this one. A fast check on the price found new ones surprisingly cheap. Should be here late this afternoon.

pax, smn

 

[sperold]

I would keep the old starter and not return it for the core value. It may turn out that the original equipment starters are worth rebuilding in the future.
Is it the power cable coming to the starter that failed or is it the primary wiring inside the starter, or is it the solenoid, or maybe just the brushes?

 

[stephen newberg]

I put a meter on the interior windings this afternoon and they are open somewhere. Its pretty corroded in there. The external power line is dead too. I did not test the solenoid. But regardless, your point is a good one, and I will put the part aside for playing with later. Never hurts to have a spare if I can get it back to good working condition. Thanks for the reminder that its worth doing.

pax, smn

 

[stephen newberg]

By the way, the new one is a lifetime warranty item from Bosch, made in the USA. Went in zero problems, car started just fine like it has for years. Good to have it going again. Now it needs a clean up to be all shiny, as no matter what you do in the shop, there are always smudges.

pax, smn

 

[SHOdded]

Great to hear! Bosch does make good stuff, so ...