God, I hate these intermittent problems!

Started a couple of years ago. Every now and then, I'd shut the car off, go to restart it, turn the key, and all that would happen would be the solenoid would click; starter would not crank. Not the click, click, click of a near-dead battery, just a single click for each turn of the key. My car is a manual, so if the car was on any kind of an incline, I'd just bump-start it and go on my way. If I was on the flat, I'd wait awhile, try again, and usually it would start, and would continue to start for awhile.

The battery tested as good. Also, when the car wouldn't start, there was plenty of juice for the lights, etc. I didn't believe it was the battery.

I took the car to a shop I use and of course it started every time. I left the car there so they could keep trying to replicate the problem. A week later I got a call from the guy. He said they'd gotten it to do it, and the problem was the battery. I pointed out that the battery had tested good, and that the headlights burned brightly when the no-start problem happened. He insisted it was the battery.

So he put a new battery in it, the car started right up, I paid the man and off I went. A couple of weeks later, though, it was right back to it.

Took it back to the shop. The alternator was charging, the battery was good. The guy suggested the cable from the battery to the starter was defective, so he replaced it. Started right up, paid the man, and I was on my merry way. A couple of weeks later, right back to clickin'.

Back to the shop, where the guy pronounced the starter was the problem. It was the original starter, but it had been rebuilt less than 10,000 miles before. I didn't squawk too much because I'd always hated the way that starter sounded, and thought it was a good idea to upgrade to a modern, high-torque starter that sounded cool.

So he put the new starter in, and she started right up. I paid the man and went on my way, giggling like a Justin Beiber fan with front-row tickets and backstage passes every time I heard that new, cool-sounding starter that sounds just like the one on the Murder Nova .... until I got the click.

So I took the car to another shop. The guy there immediately proclaimed the starter was bad. He was unimpressed when I told him it was a brand new starter, and the car had the same problem with the starter before that one, too, so I took it back to the shop I'd gotten the starter from. The guy there denied it was the starter, but had no other ideas, so he replaced it. Went to pick it up, turned the key, and "click".

Now, I'd been having other intermittent problems with the car. Been chasing a driveline vibration for years ... balanced tires, replaced tires, balanced driveshaft, replaced driveshaft, re-balanced replacement driveshaft to 100 mph, re-balanced replacement driveshaft again to 150 mph, replaced clutch disc and pressure plate, had transmission rebuilt (a nightmare that left me with a new scrape every time I shift into 5th gear), replaced motor mounts, had rearend and posi unit rebuilt ... all to no avail. When that damned starter clicked, I was so damned disgusted I walked away from the car for 11 months.

I finally re-engaged and got the car running again last week. The battery had gone bad, but it was still under warranty, so I got a free replacement. It is doing the click quite frequently now, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.

The first few times it happened, it was in the summer and it would occur after I'd been driving for awhile, so I wondered if the problem was heat-related. Over the past several years, though, it's happened during the winter, and after the car has sat for hours, or even days. I believe heat has been ruled out.

I wondered if there might be some kind of a dead drain on the battery, so I've been putting it on the trickle charger each night. It would start perfectly the first time in the morning, so I thought that might be it, but yesterday, when I went to leave for work, the battery was fully charged, yet the first turn of the key was a click.

Sometimes it'll click the first three or four times I turn the key, then work fine. Sometimes it just clicks no matter how many times I turn the key. Once or twice, it's clicked, but I held the key all the way over, and it started after a few seconds. Most times, though, that doesn't work.

I don't know if it's related, but ever since I got it back running last week, it's had to crank for awhile before it starts. Runs perfectly, otherwise. I thought it migh just be the 11 month-old gas, but I filled it up today, and there's no change.

I am so disgusted and out of ideas .... Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Have you cleaned/tightened/checked the ground cable on the engine block?

 

Hi,
I have had the same problem and ran accross 1 OE rebuilt starter that was defective from day 1! After I bought a 4th gen 97 rebuilt starter on Ebay. It worked Well for the 1st months (I barely drive the car) and after I for stocked 1st time at my daughter's school when I tried to start it with this annoying click sound! I took a 1/2 ratchet and turn the flywheel manually and it started right up! I kept the ratchet in the trunk and used it several times last summer... I bought a brand new OE 4th gen starter from my local chevy dealer and since replacement it never failed. Not To mention I replacer mort starter & battery components too... At final I can conclude from my own experience that even brand new and/or rebuilt parts off the shelf may disfunction! On another route, I already saw a partially used flywheel that was low on certain tooths, it resulted in not engaging Well in contact with the selenoid. A last thing I remember from a previous power master starter, if you have a mini starter and it's not shimmed properly it may cause à bad selenoid To flywheel contact...

hope this help,

We are dealing with antiques now:-P