when i go to turn the key over all i get is a high pitch clicking noise and no reaction from the engine???

i had the battery tested and it tested good.

i removed both the started and alternator and had them tested in search for my problem and they were both good as well.

one week ago i had a problem with it not starting so i jumped the car battery as a last ditch effort and the car was able to start.....i let the two vehicles remain hooked up for a short while in hopes that maybe the battery was dead. as soon as i left the parking lot to head home it began to run rough, especially when idling as i had to keep it up above 2,000 rpms to stay running. once i got the car home it died and i haven't been able to get it to run since so i've tried to rule out all the possabilities.

i relocated the battery to the rear 2 years ago and haven't had a problem until i did my drivetrain swap this winter. the car has ran decent with no real signs of this problem for it's first 400 miles. now all of a sudden it won't start???

i tried to jump the car again today as a last ditch effort just to start it and only with the two vehicles hooked up could i get the engine to turn over a little.........yet it still won't fire up?

i've read all my camaro shop manuals and the only suggestions given are to check the parts that i've already checked. i'm completely out of ideas now.....

any suggestions on what else i could check or what would cause this?

 

Not to tell you the obvious but it seems to me that the car will only start when overcoming some sort of high resistance. Is there possibly a partially broken wire or fusible link that the current has to jump thus overcoming the resistance and starting the car when the extra voltage of jumping it is applied. Just trying to throw out an idea. Hope this helps. -John

 

i'm open to anything right about now.

however, if that is the case what would be a good area to start looking. i mean everything on the car is pretty much new down to the wires in the respective area.

it would seem as if it's a starter problem right? so wouldn't that mean:

that either the battery is bad? which has been checked

the starter is bad? which has also been checked

or the wires hooked up to the starter could be bad? which has only visually been checked. connections are tight and no broken wires however i haven't hooked up a meter to them. what else controls the starting of a vehicle, isn't it a pretty straight forward design in that there is power that goes from the battery to the starter and a hot lead when the ignition is turned on?


or should i look into something else?

 

Try grabbing the positive wire from the battery as someone trys to crank the car. If the wire gets HOT, you have found the problem, either corroded connections or bad wire.

 

well i'm now at a loss....

the battery has tested good in every way.

the alternator and starter as well.

i even went over all the grounds and re-tightened everything. is there anything else that can cause this problem?

possible problem with distributor or maybe even an unproperly shimmed starter?

it worked for the first 400 miles of it's life and now it doesn't. i don't get it.

 

Maybe your starter is suffering from HEAT SOAK. It will start until it it gets hot. Then you have to let it sit for an hour or so after turning it off until it will restart again. Most shops can't diagnose that. Just a thought.

Andy

 

good point, except it won't start the engine at any point wether it's sat all night or not.

 

Sorry, missed that part.

 

no problem....i completely running out of ideas so i'm happy to get any suggestions i can.

 

Did you try this?

 

yep, all wires are new....

no problems with them. there is no un-natural voltage drop when starting the car and the grounds are all testing good.

 

which wires are new? Did you check your fusible links? 3 down by the starter and 1 for the alternator.

 

how do you check those?

 

errr...that can get tricky. You can pierce the wire before the splice and run a continuity check from the other end of the fusible link. You can also tug on it an bit and if it's busted you'll see/feel it pull apart a bit, if not completely. The insulation may also be a bit melted, if so, replace the melted one without even doing anything else. I believe the starter links are 16 gauge or 1.0.

 

how far away are they from the actual starter and do they look any different then the rest of the wires.

granted the main battery cable itself as well as the purple ignition lead. what would they general look like otherwise?

 

They should be no more than 6" from the starter and look like a big horse pill.

 

From the starter, the first 6-9 inches or so (to the positive end of the starter) is the fusible link. It will normally include the ring terminal, and be insulated in black, then travel back to a big horse pill looking chunk of plastic. If you keep going back, you will notice that the wire gauge will change to a thicker bright red set of wires. That's the real wire. The fusible link is a smaller gauge, about 2 gauges smaller.

For the alternator, since you moved your battery, I don't really know. Normally, from the positive battery terminal you follow that down to a "pack" and out of that "pack" comes the terminal for the alternator. I think the fusible link sits just before the pack, though I'm not 100% certain of that. I'd need to consult the service manual when I get home to know for sure as I've only had to replace the wires on the starter side.

 

i did move the battery but all the cables are still in their respective places.

what is in that "pill" plastic looking thing on the wires?

 

I had a starter that had a incorrectly machined nose on it. It would check fine on the bench but as soon as you torqued it down it would only turn over 1 time and then start clicking. If you would back of the mounting bolts a turn the thing would work fine.

 

really.........

i will try that too then.


thanks for all the help. please keep the suggestions coming!

 

A metal piece that is designed to burn out before the wires.

 

Is it the starter thats making the high pitched noise? From part of your description it sounds like a starter problem but then it also sounds like a coil problem(for when it's running or not firing up but turning over). Are you running an MSD coil? If so try running your old stock coil if you still have it. Clicking noise is most definately your starter going bad.

 

I also noticed in another thread someone mentioning your timing being too far advanced. This could definately be the problem also and cause your starter to start going sour from hard starting(too much stress on it which would cause intermittent engagement). Kinda hard to check your timing if it wasn't marked at a last point somewhere to even get it started first I know but are you able to get the starter to try and engage the flywheel at least?

 

only when it's jumped.....

found out today that their was a misc. ground on the back of the block (actually very important ground) that was semi loose. tightened it and voila.

appreciate the help greatly though!!

 

glad to hear! I know the ground you speak of and mine is pretty baddly corroded. Think I better do something about that before I develop gremlins now too

 

yeah i went over all the grounds or so i thought.....amazing that something as little as that can keep the whole car from working right.

it basically threw me off because when i jumped the vehicle it would start.....

o'well, now i know that much more.

 

I have somewhat the same problem, except when I turn the key to start, I loose all power...the dash lights turn off, everything. When I turn the key back to ACC , the lights turn back on. Sometimes I would only get clicking noises. The only way I could start my car is to pop it on 2nd and the car starts, but once I turn it off...nothing. I replaced the starter, visually checked all the wires to the starter, checked my battery and grounds...they all seem okay. Where is that ground behind the engine block??? That may also be the answer to my problems.....:hail:

 

on my 91 it runs from the bottom of the passenger side head almost straight up to the top of the firewall.

I'm pretty sure when you turn the ket to start all the lights are supposed to turn off to give the starter all the power.

 

Thanks Reg.....found the wire and the screw was loose. Tighten the screw and my car started right up!! Also cleaned all the ground wires and battery post. I ll run it for a couple of days and see if the gremlins have left.:lala:

P.S. what I meant when I turned the key and no power..... was that everything turned off and the car didnt start. Only when the key was placed back at ACC did the power come back on.

 

good to hear ya got her all fixed up. I'd suggest hooking up another ground wire somewhere. Make sure both ends have metal to metal contact tho(scrape paint off area and make sure there's no rust).

There's also another wire hooked up at the front of that head too or just below a bit I think.