Hi guys, hope someone can help me. My '90 RS 305 starts perfectly in the morning when cold. If I drive it a short distance (before it gets a chance to reach normal operating temp) or a steady speed 50mph or higher (when enough airflow keeps it at 170-180) and park it, it starts fine again. If I drive in slow traffic, and the needle goes to 190-200 (middle of the dial, normal range) and shut it off, sometimes it won't crank at all, not even the solenoid clicking. I have to wait about 20-30 minutes to let it cool, and then the starter will work again perfectly, engaging first time out and spinning freely and at normal speed.

I've heard of the problem of starter heat soak in some small block Corvettes, but my car doesn't even have headers, just the OEM manifolds. I had the starter fixed about a year ago, could the motor brushes or the solenoid be going bad again and the heat affects those parts? The Battery and cables seem ok, and no other electrical system is affected while hot and not starting.

It's becoming a pain to be watching the temp gauge before I shut it off, or thinking how long I will stay at one place, hoping that it will already has cooled off a bit when I try to start it again!!

Thanks for your help guys.

 

Wreel guatemala ha it is hot there and unfortunaley welcome to as you said it chevys infamous heat soak. What is happening is that the ignition wires to your starter become so hot from ambient and exhaust temperatures that this affects the path of your voltage across the wires. Remeber this that electrical currents do do well with extreme heat. Unfortunatley there is not much you can do but there a few. First off do you retain your starter heat sheild this will help to soak some of that heat, number two your cooling system what is the condition of it if it is working correctly switch out your tsat to a 160 degree and throw in a jet low fan switch to keep that baby cool. Also one other factor if your camaros o2 sensor is worn the car will tend to lean out way too much and really steam up those manifolds. One other question if there are no emissions in guatemala pull your catalytic converter because if it is plugged the engine cannot rid exhaust gases effectivley hope this helps Tim

 

Thanks for the answer Tim... it actually not a weather depending thing, since it's not even the summer season here, and AZ and Nevada for example are far hotter..! all Camaros there would be in a lot of trouble always... and it only started to happen lately.

The car already has the catalityc converter removed, about a year ago I replaced the stock aluminum and plastic radiator with a four row unit with a Modine core, I removed the smog system and also about 8 months ago in a tune up I replaced the O2 sensor and thermostat (I used a 180 degree unit if I remember well). Actually my temp needle now sits a bit lower than it used before, which was right at 220.

Guess the starter will have to come off and check the solenoid, and find a way to install a heat shield...

 

It's not "heat soak". That doesn't exist. It's a myth somebody cooked up to sell useless parts; and it gets repeated so often in the McDonalds parking lot and such places, that alot of people (especially younger people new to this type of car) are convinced that it exists. It doesn't.

A heat shield won't help.

It just needs a new starter. Not really any shortcuts. Replacing the solenoid by itself probably won't help. And, considering that a solenoid (at least in the US) is about $18, and a whole new starter is about $30, and you have to do all the same work to replace the solenoid that you would to replace the starter plus some more, it's not really worth fooling with it.

Your engine temp readings sound fine to me. For comparison, the factory fan switch in single-fan cars, is set to come on at 230° or so; in other words, in the factory's opinion, the motor doesn't need cooling until it reaches 230°. Readings of 190-220° are completely normal and within the range of normal and correct operation.

 

Thanks for the imput RB... but exactly what part of the starter goes bad when this hot start problem happens?

If the problem where the brushes or the winding, I think it would spin slowly (which it did before fixing up a year ago) wouldn't it?

The bendix and return spring are ok since it doesn't jump teeth on the flywheel and doesn't stay engaged. Thats why I thought it could be the solenoid...

In the States it would be easy to find a whole new starter, but here I rather just change the part that needs replacing...since small electrical parts I can find, but importing a new starter here would be rather costly, no less than $125 probably...

 

I had a similar problem last summer at the dragstrip.

After every run I would shut the car off. After the 2nd or third run, the car wouldn't start. When I turned the key absolutely nothing happened.

I let the car sit for an hour and then it started right up.

Since it was not, clicking or anything I was going to replace just the solenoid. The solenoid cap broke when I tried to remove it. It was the original.

Because it broke I replaced the entire starter. Its worked great ever since.


If the brushes are worn, the starter won't spin. If the solenoid is engaging but the starter doesn't spin, sometimes you can tap the start and get the armature to move a bit so that the brushes will make contact and get the starter spinning. Tapping the starter is kind of hard on a camaro. Its hard to reach.



Since you are outside the US, you might want to just get a new starter. Replace it all once.

 

Anyone knows?

 

I've dealt with hot start problems due to headers etc. My guess is there is more current required to turn starter over when hot due to things expanding inside of it, resistance,etc. I run larger battery cables (1/0 gauge) I have made at a marine store to solve the problem. In my old chevelle when I switched from Track Auto 4-gauge to this the motor turned over much faster even when cold. There is a lot less resistance with the larger cables. You might want to check your battery cables, but in your case you probably need a new starter.