Allright, well this afternoon I installed my new distributor I got from Summit, I picked up a new Mallory unit since I was sick of trying to fix and get my old one to perform.

Anyways, I got it in the car and started the car up twice in order to get the timing okay, but the car seemed to keep dying. So the third time I went to start it, I started it and then went to get the timing right, well I revved it a few times and thenit died again, however after it died, it kept cranking, and cranking, and cranking. I pulled the key out, nope, still cranking, tried putting it back in, and still nothing is working and the engine is STILL cranking (can't be too good for the started), finally, after about 30 seconds of trying to figure this **** out, I went and unhooked the negative from the battery to stop it. At this time the battery is completely dead, no power to the lights, horn, radio, etc, no matter what position the key is in.

Now, whenever I go to hook up the negative, it just drains the battery, I tried jumping it and the cables got REALLY hot and the second I put them on my battery, the car tried once again to start cranking, thisis without the key even in the ignition! I just had my old distributor in last night and it was working fine, so it has nothing to do with my wiring on anything but the distributor, so I've narrowed it down to that.

Anyone know what the problem could be? I have the ground on the distributor installed, I don't really know where else to go from there. The first 2-3 times the car started and shut off fine, now I can't get it to work at all, so it seems like it came on kinda suddenly. Anyone got any ideas?

-Thanks, Brandon

 

If the jumper cables got really hot really quick, then my guess is you have a major short somewhere - somewhere in the system you have the negative and positive directly connected - figure it out before reconnecting the battery, or you may blow up the battery.

The only time I ever saw jumper cables get hot was when I witnessed a guy cross the jumper cables between two cars - he didn't get a spark 'cause the one battery was dead, but it sure warmed up the cables in a hurry!

 

I wouldn't say hot, but they were very warm, then again I could have touched the metal part of the handles when I went to take them off. But all that besides, wtf would make this car keep cranking?

I honestly changed nothing but the distributor, I ran it last night and it ran pretty decent as always, then I hooked this one up and I had the problem I'm mentioning.

 

sounds to me like your starter solenoid went bad on you. its probley has the starter drive ingaged in the fly wheel. if so it will hold power to tha starter key turned off or not! if you get under the car see if the starter is igaged in the fly wheel. most likely just hapend becouse you were cranking it a lot after you dist. instal.

 

it could be that the main wire to the starter hit the other part of the starter on the solenoid. I don't know if you messed with the starter at all but it could be that the wires are touching. let us know how it goes.

 

I'm guessing it's the solenoid. I can't tell if the starter is locked onto the flywheel because I can't tell from any angle, but it looks like it is. To replace the solenoid, do I need to pull the starter, or can I just get it off?

 

it is cheaper to replace the whole starter than rebuild the solenoid. FWIW.

 

Take out 2 bolts and 2 nuts then you'll have a starter sitting on the ground. Stick the new one in and hope for the best. Meanwhile, pull the battery out and put it on a slow charge.

 

Wow, the solenoid is really that much? Jeez I figured it was only like $25-$20 or something. I'm just gonna try to pick one up from a junkyard then I guess.

 

a new starter is going to only be like $50 or so, i'd just put in a new one.

 

Any reason though, I mean, this one isn't that old, only about 25k on it at the most.....

 

most reman'd starters come with a lifetime warranty. heck the cheap remans are only $35 or so. don't bother swapping solenoids just put in a new starter with a warranty and call it a day. Unless you have a few hours to set aside to save $10, definately not worth it to me.

 

i had one go south on me after less than 3K...they go bad, just like anything else.

 

Allright, I can get a starter (working w/ solenoid) for $50 at a local boneyard. Good deal or no?

 

I bought one with the lifetime warranty for my car for $39.95 at Advance Auto Parts. It was a tight sqeeze to get it in with headers and for the price i wouldn't want to take it back out any time soon.

 

bad deal, crappy deal, horrendous deal, don't do it!!!!you can get a remanned one from a parts store with a warranty(lifetime even!) for that price or less!

 

At O'Reillys I needed a solenoid, cheapest was 28$, checked for a remaned starter w/ solenoid for 29$, also has lifetime warranty. And less grease!

 

I thought it seemed a tad high. I'll check out the local parts store tomorrow and try to convince the broken-english morons that although my Camaro is an '86, it's not the original 305..... they don't seem to get it and get all flustered and call 17 people over to understand that a 350 was swapped in. Oh what a joy it is to deal with that.....

Plus I'll always have this one if the starter itself goes bad.

 

what does it matter if it's not the original 305 or 305, as long as it's the same flywheel/flexplate on the back of the motor then it'll be the same starter regardless of the cubic inches of the motor

 

I understand that, but when the guy asked for engine/tranny, and I made the mistake of telling him it was a 355, he got all confused, I told him just to give me any starter you have for a 3rd generation camaro with a T5, but he went on and on about how he wasn't sure it would fit, etc. That's why I don't like going there......

 

Is there anyways, the solenoid could be sticking? I brought it to my local Napa (I didn't have any jumper cables or anything at home) to have it tested, and it seemed to work fine. They tried it a few times, it went on and off no problem. A solenoid was only $13, and a new starter was $36 at Napa, so I just went for the solenoid. Should I replace it anyways, are you guys certain that's the problem?

Or could it be something else?

 

Allright, well the solenoid was only $13, but while I had the starter out, I figured I'd pull it apart and make sure everything is good. Well sure enough, everything was good until I got to the starter drive. The overrunning clutch was shot, it spun both ways as opposed to one. I'm assuming this could also cause the starter not to dis-engage, correct? Anyways, I had another strter drive lying around that worked so I cleaned it up and put it in. I'm going to put the starter in my car now, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

did you get it fixed?

 

Yep, didn't have a chance to post last night. Thanks for the help guys!

Now I gotta go figure out why my freekin brand new Mallory distributor isn't advancing at all!

 

i just got a HD solenoid for $12 installedjust last week,the old one was sticking,sometimes just a click,and sometimes would engage and not stop w/o hitting it with a hammer or disc the battery,of course it was on my pickup