I own an '88 TPI 350 and recently after doing an intake swap, the car had a pretty rough idle and developed a starting issue. Once the car was up and running though, it would run like a raped ape. A HUGE improvement over the stock TPI system. The problem though, as I mentioned earlier, was that it would take it 3-4 cranks or more to get it started and when it finally started, it idled pretty rough.

To make a long story short, while setting the base timing, we discovered a few issue's here and there which we thought no doubt were contributing to the rough idle and hard starting.

Number 4 & 6 plug wires were burned up pretty bad. Bad enough that we actually saw a few sparks shoot out of them while revving the motor. The cap and rotor were definitely in need of replacement, the plugs were worn out and the battery had a hard time holding a charge so that needed to be replaced too and that super thin wire sitting inside the MAF was broken on one end as well.

We decided to call it a day since the starter was already smoking and smelling bad after so many attempts at starting it. I decided just to go home and order up all the parts I needed the next morning.

On my way home that evening, I hit traffic coming home on the highway. Despite my attempts at trying to keep the idle speed high enough to keep it from stalling, traffic was just too bad and eventually the car stalled. I tried starting it again, but that's all she wrote. All I'd get was a "click" sound when I turned the key and then another "click" sound when I let go. Bummer

I was forced to call a tow-truck.

When he arrived, we tried to jump start the car with a portable booster pack. (I figured the battery was just dead and as long as I could get it started one last time, it would be enough to allow me to get home). When he opened the hood, surprisingly, the "burned" smell that was coming from the starter earlier was still there. (Not good)

We tried jump starting the car but it was no use. The car had to be towed.

The next day I jacked up the car to take a closer look at the starter since the bad smell was still there. I noticed that the end of the started was discolored pretty badly, no doubt signs of extreme heat coming from within. I took out the starter and disassembled it.

Oh...my... Lord!

I've never seen such carnage before in my life. It looked as if the insides had been dropped through a meat grinder. I don't even think there was enough material left intact to do a rebuild.

I went out and bought the following: (all of which are brand new not rebuilt)



- 770 CCA Spiral Cell Battery (not in the photo, but I did buy one)
- Cap
- Rotor
- Plugs
- Wires
- Ignition Coil
- Ignition Module
- Mass Airflow Sensor
- Starter

I spent half the day today installing everything and once everything was buttoned up, I got behind the wheel and tried starting it.


............"Click".........................................

..................... is all that I heard. Tried it a couple more times, same exact thing as when I was on the highway and tried starting it after it had stalled.

It's as if the car's getting no spark what so ever.

I checked the wiring to the starter and it's exactly the same as when I removed it. Everything's connected properly. The new battery is fully charged. All the fuses are good. The ground cable is securely attached the the engine block so there's no grounding problems that I'm aware of. I can't find any burned wires anywhere under the car or in the engine compartment. Even the "in-line fuse's" located on the starter wiring seem to be fine as well. I'm completely lost!

The car should start but it doesn't. All I get is a faint "click" sound which seems to be coming from either under the dash or just in front of the firewall (it's hard to tell).

I'm in desperate need of some ideas here guy's 'cause I've run out of options here.

The only other thing I can think of is a possibly bad ignition switch? I don't know.

Before I spend a heap load of cash on a tow truck again to have it towed out to a mechanic, I'd really like to get some other ideas as to which areas I should look into. If I could fix the car myself and save the cash, that'd be great.

Can anybody suggest anything? HELP!

 

You'll have to measure some voltages here and there.
This wiring diagram is for an '84 T/A, but I expect the colors and wiring is similar for your car.
The places that can develop voltage drops are the C100 firewall connector and the switches.
Measure the voltages before and after these as you try to crank. You might need help with this.
I guess you might get something like 6 Volts or less at the purple wire at the starter, and if you then get 11 Volts or more at the yellow wire at the ignition switch, then the problem is with the neutral switch or the firewall connector (I believe it's behind the fuse panel).

 

Does the motor turn over? Are you sure you didn't lock it up? Reason being that it was running badly.

If the battery is charged and the starter is clicking, it sounds like it's getting power.

There is a small wire on the starter, that's your ignition wire, make sure it's getting power when you crank it, also make sure the larger wire going to your battery has constant power.

If you have power to both,1:the starter is bad or 2:the motor is seized

If no power to the battery cable, fusible link or bad connection

If no power to the ignition wire, follow that wiring diagram to trace back to where you're losing power.