I have had this car for about 2 weeks and I am about to loose my mind... I have never had so many problems with a vehicle...I did a search of alot of fourms and did everything they said, but my problem is still here. This is what I did....

I have replaced all battery cables, cleaned grounds/installed remote sol/replaced fuel pump relay/plugs/cap/rotor/plug wires. Tried 2 diff batterys, had alternator rebuilt and the car still does the same thing. Cold, it fires off without a hitch, let it run for about 2 min, turn the key off. Try and start again and it attempts to turn over, probably about 1/4 revolution and then it clicks and nothing. On my voltmeter the battery drops from 12.50 volts down to 9.60, then to 7.00, at 7.00 is when the clicking occurs. When the car is running it is charging at 13 v according to the gauge in the car. Timing is also set at 6degree's, second notch when looking at the engine from the front going left to right on the timing thingy by the crank. Not sure if that is 6degrees, but guessing since the thingy has no number by the degree marks.

I am about at wits end and if I don't resolve this soon, I will probably sell the car. Any hints questions or comments are welcome Thanks again

Lee

 

what bout the starter motor? when it struggles to start, turn the key off and try tapping the starter lightly with a crowbar or something like that, then see if it starts
im not positive this is what it is, but it cant hurt to check
peace

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87 305 5.0 litre 4 bbl
Black with gray trim almost done being rebuilt

 

Sounds like a bad starter to me. The remote solenoid is a great thing for getting the solenoid out of the hot area around the header/manifold, but the starter motor itself is still getting soaked with heat .

It sounds like you've done everything else in the system as well, so I say starter.

The voltage drop when cranking is a dead giveaway as well .

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1987 GTA L98 MD8 GH3
355 '97 Vortec 4-bolt block, TRW(suck) forged pistons 10:1 CR, TFS 23*, LT4 Hot Cam, Ported plenum and intake, SLP Siam Runners, Edelbrock TES, gutted Cat, Flowmaster, K+N cone, AFPR, TB bypass, AirFoil, !AIR, !A/C, !EVAP, ARAP, 2300 stall, Hotchkis STB.

 

Sounds like starter heat soak. You'll know for sure when it stops working at all.

 

Turned out that the starter was the culprit. Replaced the starter with a mini starter and that solved that problem. New problem now though. There is an extremely loud ticking, nocking noise coming from somewhere in the engine compartment. The only thing that I messed with was the driver side crossover pipe while taking the starter off. Also I had the check engine light come on after the first time I started it and the car is considerably louder. Any ideas? The car has no smog pump or cat on it. Thanks.

 

The tapping/clicking noise is almost certainly an exhaust leak. If it gets lounder as the engine goes under load it's DEFINITELY an exhaust leak.

Timing marks- there ARE numbers on the timing scale- it's just that they're under a hundred thousand miles of road crud. Unload a good portion of a can of carb cleaner on it and you'll be able to see the numbers. Get a neighborhood kid to reach his skinny fingers down in there and wipe it with a cloth real good, too. If you're a nice guy you'll let him do it when the engine is cold, not raging hot.

Your check engine light could be related to several things including leaving the O2 sensor unplugged while messing with the exhaust, driving the O2 sensor bonkers due to the big exhaust leak, or driving the knock sensor bonkers due to a loose exhaust component banging around near the engine.

 

I am going to do some work to it tonite and see if I can figure the problem out. I know when I took the driver maifold off, One of the colector bolts was broken off and a spring was in its place. I try this and see what happens. Thanks.

Lee

 

Hey i think you guys just answered my next post as well..lol..I have one question though,ive heard that having motor work done can cause this problem as well and sometimes you need a high torque starter,is this true?Cause b4 i bought my 305 TPI Trans Am,the motor was bored out 30 over and have forged pistons and a blower cam in it.It used to be supercharged too but not anymore.But will the work i have minus the Paxton cause a problem with my starter going sooner if i get a stock replacement.Or should i get something like one of those high torque jobs from summit or something?