Slow2.8

After driving my car for a while it doesn't want to start right up afterwards. It makes a click nooise but thats about it. After a few tries it will start right up. Got the starter checked out and the guy did 4 tests, passed all of them all the time. So i ordered a heat shield from summit to help solve the issue, but heres the new problem. I go to start it this morning after it sat for 10 hours. Did the same thing, clicked a few times then finally started. Whats the deal? It can't be heatsoaked if the car wasnt running????

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Real simple.

1. Your starter is broke. You SHOULD have spent your money on a starter instead of the other thing. Oh well, live and learn.

2. Your broken starter happened to work when you tested it. Maybe it is most likely not to work when it's held in the EXACT position it sits in, installed in your car; and works better if it's tilted some other way.

3. You wasted your money on that "heat soak" crap. That doesn't exist. It's fantasy land.

Just buy a starter, and fix your car the right way, and forget the "heat soak" myth.

Forshock 85TA

Check all your connections. Ground and power

camarodarrell

On a 67-69 camaro, can the starter solenoid get "heat soak"?

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Copper and iron are still copper and iron, no matter how romantic the stickers on the sheet metal.

I had a friend once who owned a company that rebuilt starters. I had one at that time that did just what Slow2.8's is doing, and I rebuilt it, replaced the solenoid, etc. etc. It still did it. It was THE ONLY THING I could never fix about a starter. If I had one that did that, all I could do, was go buy another one. So I asked him one day what made them do it. His response was, "I can't tell you that. If I told you, I'd neve rsell you another starter again, now would I?" So I still don't know. All I know is, starter works fine, then does that, you need a starter. Do not waste time or money, do not fool around, do not try to fix it; just go get another, and move on.

One thing I'm POSITIVE of, it isn't "heat soak". That's amateur hack talk for weak battery, bad connections, old starter, more compression than the motor came with, and too much timing, all rolled into one. Some clever entrepreneur has figured out how to separate people from their money by selling them something they've convinced themselves they need.

Slow2.8

damnit, well im just going to wait till one day it doesnt start any more and replace it for free from my warranty at auto zone.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

i've had that problem happen, basically a solenoid problem. However replacing the solenoid on an old starter is a waste of time, starters aren't that pricey.

sofa, you think heat soak is a myth eh? hmm, never heard that point of view.

chesterfield

A conductor's resistance increases with temperature rise and causes a drop in voltage. Ohm's Law. Whether or not the temperature around an exhaust pipe is high enough to affect the conductors inside a starter motor and solenoid is something I don't know. I had a 1983 Chevy van that came with a heat shield from the factory.

Stekman

There is enough heat to "soak" the starter. But that all goes back to the fact that GM graced these cars with crappy starters.

bobdole369

...Hope they don't test it there, it took an hour and a half of screaming with the manager and both me and my wife wearing him down to get them to replace the fourth auto zone starter that did exactly that. They hooked it up to the starter tester and it spun. I took it back out and put it in my car and it didn't..... Yelling ensued.... read on to see how I solved this issue (mostly).

One thing to do if your bored while waiting for it to work again.... take off your flexplate/flywheel inspection cover and have a friend attempt to crank the motor. In my particular case the pinion gear on the starter was striking the teeth on the flexplate end on, not meshing, I had my buddy jiggle the starter (quickly turn to start in rapid succession) and it "worked" its way to engage the flexplate teeth..... Its fun being under an engine when it starts lol...

Whether my flexplate is warped or not I'm not positive, but I did solve this by shimming the starter OUT by using a half shim on the engine side. I'm not gonna say it's 100% fixed until it happens again, but its been 3 months on what I thought was a "bad" starter LOL.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Same issue with my IROC. Just spend the 15$ on a new starter with a 15$ core trade in of the old one. Saves alot of time and alot of hassel. I dont know why people insist on testing and taking apart and inspecting and cleaning and rebuilding, etc, a starter that only costs 15$ for thier car. I could see on cars that you have to pay 100$ for a starter, but the ones for the thirdgens are a dime a dozen.

bretsk2500

heat soak's a myth, eh?

then explain this to me.. in my cammed and header'd truck, after towing my 7klbs trailer or a long burn down the interstate, if I shut it off and immediately try to restart it, the starter can't turn the motor over. however if I wait 20 minutes and let the starter cool off, it'll spin the motor over like a top. that, to me is the definition of heat soak.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Yup, it's a myth.

Go buy yourself a cheap infrared pyrometer, and actually MEASURE the starter temp. I'd almost be willing to bet money, that youd find the starter temp is HIGHER after it's been sitting there for a few, than immediately after the motor was turned off.

So maybe it's really "cold soak".

I forgot to add one critical factor to the causes of the behavior that has given rise to the myth; and that's the crappy Delco direct-drive starter itself. It has so little torque that even on a good day, it can barely turn the motor over. Go get yourself a GOOD starter, basically just about ANYTHING BUT the stock one; something like a Hitachi or Nippondenso, or even the later-model gear reduction Delco; and put that on your car. It'll spin the motor twice as fast when it's hot, as that stock one did under its most ideal conditions.

What's really happening in your truck, is that the spark plugs cool down while it sits for a few, so the A/F mixture doesn't light off while the piston is still 40 degrees or more BTDC. Which of course generates enough cylinder pressure that the starter can't possibly overcome it. Has nothing to do with the starter itself, it's that the motor is harder to turn.

84z28350

Ive got a bosh starter on my car and it sits about 1/2"-3/4" away from the header tubes with no insulation or shielding and i never have a problem with 'heat soak'. I did have a heat soak problem when i first got the car but that was mostly due to the fact that it was a 30 year old starter and it was for a manual tranny (about 1/2 the size of an auto starter) it would have trouble cranking the motor unless it sat for a while and cooled off.