cldg0

Hey guys,

First time post, just came into the family.

Just grabbed a 1985 Camaro with a high performance 350 HO Crate Engine. (12486041). I put tags on it on Wednesday, and probably ran it for about 60-70 miles over the past two days. Car never had an issue starting up, cranked and turned over with no issue. I drove it to the gas station and back yesterday, babying the car - put premium in and got back to my place, parked, turned it off, and went inside for the night.

Woke up this morning and was going to take it to work and got in and turned the ignition and barely anything. Belt moves an inch or two before i stop turning the key.

I have most of the paperwork for the car, and the car came from a mechanic. He said he had the starter rebuilt last May, and I checked the battery, tried jumping it, and tapping the starter with a little hammer. Called the seller and he said it shouldnt be wires, and to maybe check the starter even though it was rebuilt.

Im a little depressed that I wont be able to enjoy the car on a nice weather holiday weekend, but now I just want it fixed. Do you guys have any ideas?

Thanks and I look forward to contributing to the forums!

antares57

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to the forums. A lot of members will tell you to do a search on the forums in relation to your problem. If you get a lot of hits it can be overwhelming. It is not a bad idea to see what members have done in the past. That being said, you said you checked the battery. How did you do that? Did you just check the voltage, did you start another car with it, or did you take it to Autozone and they said it was good? It makes a difference and eliminates any further tests. You said you tried jumping it. What was the response? Did it do the same as before, did it crank but not start, no crank? When asking for responses put as much detail as you can so we can make some educated guesses. I'd have the battery checked first. If the battery is good, then pull the starter and have it checked. In the meantime, try to hand crank the motor to make sure it's not seized. Let us know of any progress. Again, welcome to the forums and good luck.

cldg0

Hey,

Thanks for the response. Ive searched high and low, and looked at all types of videos, but no one seems to be having the type of problem that I am. Funny enough, the car was close to running and starting perfectly yesterday.

I tested the battery by bringing it to Advance Auto and getting a print out of the battery - and it exceeded its rating. I also have an old receipt that shows the battery less then 2 years old.

Trying to jump it changed nothing. The fan and pulley move, not more then a couple inches for most key turns. Every 1 out of 5 turns i would say it cranks 3 times then stops, causing the fan to briefly spin as if it would turn over.

My next bet is with the starter, but it doesn't feel right that the starter had zero issues 12 hours before the first attempt at starting it this morning. Thats the fishiest thing to me.

antares57

iTrader: (8)

If the battery is good and the jump didn't work either my money is also on the starter. These older cars get real quirky on how they operate. It gets to the point that if I let one of my sons drive I have to brief them if it does this, you do this, if it does that you do this.

gm muscle

You might want to check the wiring leading from the battery to the starter. Maybe he didn't tighten the nuts for the two wires at the solenoid (I've done that before!). Just because he is a mechanic, it doesn't mean that the work done was flawless...he may have been in a hurry. Sometimes the brushes within the starter don't always make contact with the armature. You said you banged on the starter with a hammer but did you do that as you were trying to start it?


Let us know.

cldg0

Hey guys,

Thanks for the help on here. Took the starter out yesterday to go and bench test it. Bench test came out fine, but the Autozone had a matching start for 48$ so I took it home and the core just in case. Dropped it in the car and the starter worked, but the battery was dead.

Jumped the battery, car turned over and drove perfectly. I'll probably return the core today and pick up another battery just to make sure.

Goes to show that these bench tests don't exactly show in car results and if you can, might as well buy the new parts.

Thanks again for all the replies. If anyone has any questions about the starter install (pretty easy, except for the manuvering out and manuvering in) feel free to reply or pm me.