Sorry to the moderators is this needed to be put in "tech and general engine"..i just assumed this might be an electrical glitch someone could help me with.

I went to go start my car the other day, and it would turn to the first "click", the one that makes the lights come on and you can use the electrical stuff. But, I would turn it to start it, and nothing...no starter action at all. Only thing that happens is the temp gauge pins itself (odd little gizmo), and the emergency brake light is on (note..this only happens as long as the key is in the start position...when it goes back to the first click, it stops). Now, the strangest thing about this is that this only happen some of the time. I went to go start it the other day, and it had this problem. Then I look under the hood (I touch nothing), and go to try it again, and it starts!! All of the wires looked ok...could it possibly be that little "pass-key" nub on the key getting worn down and jiggling it made it work somehow? HELP!! I DONT WANT THIS CAR TO STRAND ME SOMEWHERE!!

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305IrocZ28- Al
1990 Iroc-Z
305 TPI
0-60 in 6.8 (timed)
2.73 Posi (3.42 or 3.73 to come)
Flowmaster exhaust
T-tops
Red w/ black racing stripes
Pioneer headunit, stock speakers, Rockford 10'' punch woofers

Ricers beware...I eat you three meals a day

And the Camaro said to the Civic "Now, I know what you're thinking...in all of that mess, did he have 8 cylinders, or only 6? You just gotta ask yourself one question...do you feel lucky? Well do ya....punk???

 

Either that or the neutral safety switch on your shifter has come undone. Starter are pretty simple. You need voltage to the solenoid(little thing on the side of the starter motor). That moves the shaft onto the flywheel/flexplate and complete the circuit to the starter motor. Short the solenoid from the B+ on the starter to the solenoid with a screwdriver(ignition off!). This schould turn the engine over. If it doesn't then the problem is in the starter.

 

I had the same problem with my '89. Turned out to be the battery cables. The insulation looked good, but the wires themselves were shot.

I replaced both cables, and the problem was solved.

 

Im saying though that all of the other electrical gizmo's still funtion with the key in the 1st "click"...if it was battery wires, wouldnt that NOT happen?

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305IrocZ28- Al
1990 Iroc-Z
305 TPI
0-60 in 6.8 (timed)
2.73 Posi (3.42 or 3.73 to come)
Flowmaster exhaust
T-tops
Red w/ black racing stripes
Pioneer headunit, stock speakers, Rockford 10'' punch woofers

Ricers beware...I eat you three meals a day

And the Camaro said to the Civic "Now, I know what you're thinking...in all of that mess, did he have 8 cylinders, or only 6? You just gotta ask yourself one question...do you feel lucky? Well do ya....punk???

 

Yes. Everything electrical still worked on my car. I think the cables were good enough to power the minor things.

The starter causes a huge drain,and I don't think they were able to pass all the current because they were so shot.

Once I replaced them, the problem went away.

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1989 Trans Am, 305 TPI 5-speed, T-Tops(love 'em),4-wheel disc, 3.73 posi(the toy). '97 Camaro V-6 T-Tops(daily driver)

 

Was going to recommend the same. Check all the cables. Check the cables going down to the starter. Have someone try to start the car as you move the cables around. If it trys to start it is a broken or ungrounded cable. Check them with an ohmeter if you really want to get fancy.

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87 TA, 305 TPI, Custom CAI, K&N, ACCEL 8mm wires,ACCEL Super-coil, ACCEL Plugs, JET TPI Airfoil, Cherry Bomb Muffler
"35 yr old helo pilot
with a cool new toy my 17 yr old son wants" The Phoenix Project..click to see my project car
Trans Am stuff and GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS!!!!!

 

I would have to agree with everybody else your wire may look fine but may be degraded. eat and weather conditions will cause this after time. Also check your battery connections for corrosion, this will cause a high resistance and will cause alot of the same problems as bad wire. Also get your battery tested thats free and easy also.

 

I bet it's your neutral safety switch. Check to make sure you have back up lights as well. Your switch may be going bad, or may need readjusted. The same thing used to happen to me, so i had to learn how to start it first by jumping the starter, then i learned how to jump 2 wires to make it start if i had to. This did save my car from being stolen once when they broke the column down and couldn't get it started cause of this problem. I was thankful for that.

 

Take a test light and connect it to the "S" terminal on the solenoide. Ground the other side of the test light. Have someone turn the key to start, if the light comes on but the starter doesn't do anything, then it's the solenoid. IF the light doesn't come on, then it could be a number of things, like the VATS, neutral safty switch, ignition switch, wires, etc. If the light does come on and it's very dim, then you probably have a short, a bad connection, or somehting along those lines.