Okay heres the deal. Ive had the hot start problem in my 89 firebird since ive had it. Ive replaced the starter and after a while same results. I put a heat sheild on the exhaust worked for a couple of months then same results. Okay so i got used to it. I just recently drove my car from maine to florida. On the trip i expected this problem to happen. Usually takes anywhere from 10-35 minutes to crank over again. But the other morning i drove across the street to the gas station turned it off went to start it again it was cold and nuthin. It took an hour to crank over and then the security light stayed on the rest of the trip. Im just learnin about the VATS thing. I also have an old viper alarm system on their so im questioning that too. But i was reading this tech article https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/solenoid.shtml and was thinking about doing this and see if it works. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and how hard it is to really do. I did a search and couldnt come up with anything so im askin. Sorry if this question keeps gettin posted. Also its an 89 firebird v6 2.8. Thanks for the help

Hans

 

im having the same damn problem....it starts to crank then stops, wait 5 minutes, same ****, then after like 20 minutes it finnally cranks

 

I have the same car 89 2.8 auto, but I cant say I have the same problem 120,000 miles on it too. I dont know if its an option but summit racing makes a cloth like velcro starter heat shield that you can try and put on and see if that helps it wraps all the way around the starter... if its really a prob try a metal heatshild in combination with that. I know you said you already have an exhaust shield (is that the metal starter on I just said) but maybe this will help out... Since I dont have the same problem but have the same car set up.... maybe a new starter might help adding with everything else. Also do you have and exhaust leaks... maybe blowing hot exhaust directly on the starter?

 

the thing is when it wont start i mean it wont even crank over. i used to just go around the problem by jump starting it and no prob but when it wouldnt start on my trip i jumped it with two differnt vehicles and nothing happened. ive tried the sheilds and most of that kind of stuff like wraps but same outcome. thants why im wondering if i move the solenoid if that may help my problem. ive gotten 2 new starters and after about 5-6 months the same outcome so im gonna try to move the starter solenoid and see what happens. has anyone done this mod?

 

if i were you, i would take your starter off..only two bolts and disconnecting the wires.. and take it to oreilys or autozone and have them test it, cuzz if it wouldn't even turn over it might be a problem with it drawing to many amps....so try that and you might need a new starter, but im definatly considering a remote soleniod. if you get it tested and its fine, i would consider it too

 

yeah im gonna remove the starter and get it tested. you said autozone will do it right? if it is good then ill do the remote solenoid and if it isnt good im gonna replace it and stilldo the remote solenoid reguardless cause i still have a gut felling that thats the main problem. so ill prolly have it done by tommorow or at the latest wed so ill keep you posted on my resuts

 

hey man i had the same problem on my 89 305

the only way to stop it is to do the remote solinoid mod

i went through 3 starters and when my 3rd went i left it in there because only the solinoid was bad and followed the tech artical on this page

and poof no more problemes

just dont use a cheap replasment solinoid... use a ford motorcraft one

lasts a long time

and if it does go bad its alot easier then a starter i tell you that

i will see if i can get a pic of mine

only took my an hour to do

 

sweet yeah ive gone through my fair share of starters. if you have pics of how to do that remote solenoid that would be awesome. i read how to do it but am just a little bit confused on the directions. it looks like im supposed to put in two switches but im not sure if those are already there. so if you had pics that would be great.

 

That heat shield and solenoid business is amusing.... but basically just a bunch of band-aids for a starter that's inadequate by its design.

The real solution is to put a better-designed starter on there. Get rid of the stupid direct-drive thing and get a modern gear-reduction unit. Any of the mini-starters in the after market (which are all either a Nippondenso or a Hitachi motor with an aluminum adapter block), or a later-model LT1 starter.

 

Ok for an 89 2.8 firebird starter if it inadiquite... how do you fix it... is the a "subsitute" starter that you can bolt up that will work better in its place and has an adiquate design? I have had 2 different 2.8 firebirds an 85 that had 151,000 miles on the orginal starter with no problems ... I pulled the motor and swaped it out for a 327... and I now have an 89 with 118,750 miles with orginal start and no problems yet Your talking about Lt-1 starters.... he has a 2.8 not a v-8... I have never seen a replacement starter or mini starter for a v-6. I'm not trying to start something, just want info too since I have pretty much the same car as he does... if there is a replacement mini starter for a 2.8 where could you get one?

 

see i dont think i have a starter problem. i beleive it is the soleniod which is the one closest to the exhaust. because ive never replaced the solenoid just my starters and i get the same thing. so well see if the remote solenoid helps me out. but i have the same qestion as dream02transam about the replacement mini starter. if their is one for a 2.8 v6 let me know. and thanks for all the input so far.

 

the only reason the smaller gear reduction starter seems to solve the problem is that it moves the starter solinoid farther from the exhaust heat

the stock starter is plenty powerful to turn over your 9.0 to 1 motor

like i said its much easier to change the solinoid then the starter

sorry no pics yet it is raining like a bitch here in long island

 

kew im learin alot about this whole hot start problem im just tryin to get the best results and all of this is helpin . never heard about the smaller starter thing. but when you can get pics of the car that would be awesome.

 

after i put my headers in i was changing starters every 3 months

now i have had the same one for 2 years

that should tell you something

 

true i think im gonna do this tommorow when the rain goes away