SHO Not Starting

[JRA2000TL]

Thanks guys. I got home and connected the wires correctly. I now have power. The hood light comes on, and when I turn the car to ON, the chimes come on, radio, interior lights, etc. Then I turn it to Start and nothing! All lights go out, instrument cluster, interior lights, everything! I then have to go to my battery and wiggle the cable to get my accessories (hood and interior lights) to come back on. I thought my connections from the battery to the starter were good.

I'm getting about 12.55 volts at the new battery and at the solenoid, which is now correctly hooked up. Should I go buy another new solenoid since I screwed this one up and try from there? Remember I overtorqued one of the nuts and broke the plastic housing on the new solenoid, so I reinstalled the existing one. About 2 months ago when I first experienced slow/erratic starting, I crawled under the car to check my cable connections at the starter, and all were tight. Sorry....I'm not good with troubleshooting. I feel like I'm slowly making progress but still not quite there yet.

 

[jmpSHO]

I would recheck and clean all your connections.

 

[qiksho]

I would recheck and clean all your connections.

2nd

That is exactly the symptoms you will get when your connections aren't clean and tight. If all of your connections look good and clean then start checking the cable for holes in the covering.

 

[SHOhopefull]

X3... I've had constant trouble with previous cars exactly like that cause I wouldn't tighten the battery terminals enough...****, I had one car that would die at traffic lights, I'd have to jump out, wiggle the cables and jump back in If they wont tighten up enough, it's time for some new cable ends.

 

[rubydist]

not just tight, but clean and tight - I've had battery connections that looked good and were tight, but didn't pass enough current to start the car because there was a thin glaze of something on the terminal - get a terminal cleaner brush and clean up the battery terminals and cable ends, then put it all together tight.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Ok, I checked and tightened my battery connections, terminals are clean. The car will crank but will not turn over, it's a slow-dragging weak crank and one of the times I tried, I heard a hissing sound and smelled something burnt. I waited and tried it again and it almost turned over but didn't quite get it. It's like my starter is dragging. Should I go ahead and replace it? I have a spare in the garage that I got on sale from Rock Auto for 50 bucks.

 

[lowc]

yea it sounds like your starter is drawing to much current i would swap it with the spare

 

[JRA2000TL]

Yeah now it smells like fire and burnt metal/plastic in my garage...made a weird sound as I was holding the key to start and the starter was struggling just to turn. I guess I will swap it out later tonight and try that.

 

[lowc]

probly just killed starter ive heard them make some wierd noises when they draw to much

 

[JRA2000TL]

Well I found the problem. As I'm trying to pull the starter I see that the bracket that's supposed to hold the positive cable to the starter is bent to the side and not bolted in place. Right up against the bracket is the cable. I slide the plastic guard to the side and find my cable nicely eaten through to the wiring about 1/4 of the way. I bent the bracket back and returned the plastic guard and tried to start the car and had the same results.

I will replace the positive battery cable, and I might as well replace the starter while I'm already in there. That starter is a PITA to remove! I fought and fought with the bottom bolt and it's on so tight, it's trying to round off. I sprayed it with liquid wrench. I have no clue how I'm going to get that 10mm bolt at the top of the starter off. I quit for the night b/c I don't feel like screwing with it anymore tonight.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Here's the problem.



Actually was the negative cable from the starter to the solenoid. Someone replaced the starter before me and lost the bolt to that back bracket; it was bent to the side and rubbing against the cable. Since I was in there already, I'm going to go ahead and replace the starter with my spare, as well as a new cable. I had to use my long ass torque wrench to get enough leverage to get that 13mm bolt out next to the tranny. Holy **** it was on tight!

Uhhh and no parts house has this cable either--not even Napa or Car Quest. The guy at Car Quest said he can usually make special ones but not this one (I brought it in). Part has been discontinued from the dealer as well. This sucks.

 

[luigisho]

Lots of parts cars out there. Try Dan Barbush SVHODan on the forum, Ray at MidnightAuto (you can find him on ebay) or other parts cars in the classifieds here.

 

[jimtash]

Tape it up good and put it back in. If that's the only damage then I don't see why electrical tape won't work. That and the loom should do just fine.

If you really want to replace it then do as suggested and list a WTB ad but you are still taking a risk that those cables are in good working condition. At least with the one you have, you know what's wrong with it.

 

[white93atx]

You could go to a electrical supply store and get rubber tape to wrap around that spot then elelctric tape over that. Also in the future take your car parts to a electric repair shop for testing. I don't trust autozone or advance.

 

[lowc]

agrred that doesnt look like it rubbed through the copper to much if you have some extra heater hose laying around cut a small piece in half and wrap it over it and tape the **** out of it

 

[JRA2000TL]

Yeah I'll just tape it up, throw in this new starter, reconnect everything and try it again. I'll finish it this weekend. I have to work out of town for a couple of days this week; didn't feel like messing with it anymore today. I'll give an update on whether that fixed it or not once it's back together. Thanks for all the help everyone. It's because of this forum that I'm able to learn to work on my own car and fix it. Never thought I could do some of the stuff I've done. SHOs will make you a mechanic.

 

[luigisho]

SHOs will make you a mechanic.

Ain't that the truth.

 

[JRA2000TL]

Put it back together today. I taped up the damaged wire, installed the new starter, and it works great. I guess the bad wire shorted out the old starter and burnt it up. Now my tach is stuck under the peg from when the instrument cluster went nuts with the old starter in. I took it out and ran it to high rpms in 1st and 2nd but it didn't jump over the peg. I don't feel like tearing the instrument cluster apart now.

Oh I fail at working on cars. Took me about 3 hours to get this starter in b/c I had to finagle the starter around, and I was having trouble reinstalling some of the bolts due to cramped room. I'm sure I could do it in less than an hour next time though. At least I learned something.

Thanks SHOforum.

 

[white93atx]

Glad you got it running again.The starter bolts are pain to get at.