Since I've put the motor in my Trans Am I have been having a problem with my starter where it fires right up when it is cold or has sat for over an hour, but if I turn off the engine and wait a minute and turn the key it does nothing. I have a good charging system with plenty of volatge, the radio and lights always work, but the starter will not even click.

The starter is under a year old and the connections to it are snug. Also if I turn it off and turn it back on within a ew minutes it fires right up. The only way to get it stated is to have someone tap on the solinoid while someone is cranking it over and that does not always work. Has anyone else had a problem similar to this? I do not always have a passenger to help my start it.

Thanks in advance,
Matt

 

my car does this too
I tightened the terminals on the battery and it hasnt happened since. But I havent really driven it much either.

 

You need to buy a remote mount solenoid kit from summit. It is only like $25, and it comes with a solenoid to mount in the engine compartment, but away from the motor. What you have is heat soak and this kit will solve that. I had the exact same problem and havent had it happen since I put this on.

Tim

 

Clean the connections with backingsoda mixed in water. Clean them up GOOD and check the grounds and wires. If the motor turns over slow than this is the problem, if it doesn't turn over at all then it could be any number of things.

 

Yeah, it does not turn over at all and heat soak would explain it. Does anyone know how to remove the solinoid to mount it somewhere wlse, or do I have to buy a remote mount kit?

Thanks for the help,
Matt

 

seen this a few times, worst case was on a mates blazer.

Do you have headers? these can aggrevate the problem, i believe summit do a starter heat sheild, this can also help, as can wraping the headers in heat proof wrap.

Failing this, a remote solonoid or new starter should cure the problem.

 

sorry, i'm being dim, I see you do have headers. They transmit more heat than cast mannifolds, so isolating some of this is always a good plan.

I've heard of cars with headers needing starters on an annual basis in extreme circumstances

 

Well I bought the remote starter solinoid and tried to hook it up and I think I fried my starter. Can anyone give me some tips on wiring this thing up?

Thanks,
Matt

 

Ok, you should have a metal piece that connects from the big post on the original solenoid to one of the small posts on the original solenoid. It should tell you which posts to do this on. Then you need to run a battery type cable from the middle post on the original solenoid up to the remote solenoid. Then you run the positive battery cable to the remote solenoid. That is all I can remember withour actually seeing it, I hope this helps some.

Tim

 

Here, I found some better instructions for you.

Before beginning
familiarize yourself with any wiring diagrams of your starter circuit
that you may have. On the existing solenoid (mounted to the starter) there
are typically three (3) terminals. Depending on the year of your vehicle,
either all or only two (2) will be used. Typically, non-HEI equipped vehicles
will use all three terminals, vehicles with HEI will use only two (2).

The terminals on
the existing solenoid are generally labeled “S, R, the B terminal is the
battery cable terminal and is not labeled”. The “R” terminal is used by
Non-HEI equipped vehicles and goes to the ignition coil. The “S” terminal
comes from the ignition switch and is a heavy gauge (12 or 14) wire, check
you wiring diagram to verify the color. The ‘B’ terminal has the positive
battery cable plus any wires for powering accessories, there may or may
not be fusible links in any of these circuits.

1. Disconnect the
positive battery cable at the battery. This cable may or may not have
to be replaced depending on where you locate the remote solenoid. Use
zero (0) gauge cable if you have to replace the battery cable from the
battery.

2. Find a convenient
location for the remote solenoid, preferably one that can be reached by
the existing cable from the battery (so you can avoid replacing that),
but yet is still accessible from the engine compartment should you desire
to connect remote starter switches or other accessories, if it is accessible
then accessory hookup is very easy. Since most of the surfaces we can
mount to are plastic or fiberglass, use bolts with either nylock nuts
or lockwashers to ensure that vibration does not cause the solenoid to
fall off its mounts and cause a short.

3. Jack up your car
and support it with a good set of jackstands, NEVER WORK UNDER A VEHICLE
SUPPORTED BY A JACK ALONE.

4. Disconnect each
wire from the existing solenoid and carefully label which terminal the
wire was mounted to. The harness containing the ignition circuit and other
wires that goes up over the back of the engine may be pulled up from behind
the engine and routed towards the new remote solenoid. If you are careful
and plan the remote location well, you may be able to connect these wires
to the new solenoid without needing to lengthen them. Otherwise you will
need to lengthen the wires to reach the new solenoid. Try to match the
existing gauge of the wires as closely as possible. While it is possible
to use crimp connectors on these wires, it is preferable to solder the
wires together and use shrink tubing to insulate the joint. You can use
crimp connectors at the solenoid end of the wire.

5. Connection is
simple. First take the existing (or new) positive cable from the battery
and connect to one of the large lugs on the side of the solenoid, it doesn’t
matter which one. To that same terminal attach any other wires that were
attached to the “B” terminal on the existing solenoid. There should be
at least one, the one that powers the accessory circuit in the car.

6. The two- (2) small
terminal lugs on the new solenoid are labeled ‘S’ and ‘I’. To the ‘S’
terminal attach all wires that were attached to the ‘S’ terminal on the
existing solenoid. This wire will be the heavy gauge wire from the ignition
switch. If there were any other wires attached to the same post then attach
those as well. The ‘I’ terminal is used only on Non-HEI equipped vehicles,
if your vehicle used the ‘R’ terminal on the existing solenoid then those
wires should be connected to the ‘I’ terminal.

7. Purchase a new
length of #2 gauge battery cable with a connector at each end. Purchase
one long enough to allow you to route the cable safely away from the exhaust.
Use insulated cable clamps to hold the cable in position, if required.
Insulated clamps will eliminate the possibility of chafing on the cable.

8. Now you must connect
a jumper from the “B” terminal lug on the existing solenoid (mounted on
starter) to the “S” terminal on the same solenoid. This jumper must be
a heavy wire, I am not sure on minimum size but would bet no less than
10 gauge would be okay, use soldered terminals on this wire. The kit from
Summit Racing Equipment uses a metal strap that connects the two.

All of these instructions
are from the Summit kit which I found to be very well put together. I
would recommend the Summit kit over trying to put a kit together yourself,
at the very least you get the metal jumper strap noted in step 8.

Finally, as noted
by "Brian-74-454" from the Corvetteforum, the solenoid has to be grounded
to function. Normally this is not an issue on most GM cars, as they are
metal and by merely mounting them you ground them, however that is less
likely on a Corvette. So be sure to ground the remote solenoid to the
frame or other likely location to ensure that the system functions properly.

 

Cool, thanks a lot! I had it hooked up right, I just missed the jumper on the starter's solenoid. Thanks again for your help and hopefully I can get it working tommarow.

-Matt