1985 z28 305 w/ quadrajet, auto trans.

car ran fine until i parked it a few weeks ago. went to crank it up the other day and all i got was a click. swapped for another battery, still went click. swapped in a new battery, click.

all accessories work great, battery is fully charged. there is a voltage drop and an audible click as soon as i turn the key to start, so i don't think it's the starting circuit.

sounds like a starter or a solenoid to me but how could it suddenly go bad from just sitting for a few weeks...

also, i can't get the shifter to move from park with the key in the on position. i was going to try a neutral start but when i put the key in, turned it on, depressed the brake and pressed the button on the selector and tried to slide the shifter, it wouldn't budge.

 

Starters can be like that, go from working just fine, to not doing a damn thing, with absolutely NO notice. I hate it when that happens....

As for not shifting out of park.... that seems really odd. Does your car have the brake lock out do-hickey? (technical term....) so you have to step on the brake to shift out of park? (my 88 doesn't have it, so I am guessing this is not the problem...) Is the car parked on a relatively steep hill?

 

car is in a parking lot, level ground. i'm not too sure if it has the brake/shift interlock, to be honest.

i'll have to go out and bang on the starter to see if anything happens.

 

Where ya at? Is there snow on the ground? If not, disconnect the shift cable, and see if it is the trans that is causing the problem, or the shifter.

 

tons of snow on the ground. i did disconnect the shift cable, the shifter moves freely of course. shifter cable will not budge hardly.

 

Of course... The car can't possibly break down when the weather is reasonable, or, you are not pressed for time...... Can you disconnect the cable from the trans, and see if the cable will move freely? (sorry, I know all to well what it is like to have to work under a car in the snow... had to change the starter in my challenger in the middle of january, with 3 feet of snow on the ground, and wind chill well below 0..... it sucks.)

 

OK this is now the deal...

it cranks! i guess something was just frozen in the cold weather. same with the shifter, it now moves, however stiffly.

it still will not start. it is getting gas, because i can smell it after a little bit of cranking.

wtf? ignition? how would ignition components go bad from just sitting?

i guess it just happens. well its not too cold so i guess i will rip off the dist. and see whats up inside.

post any ideas in the meantime, plz. thanks.

 

Why remove the distributor? Test for sprk and primary power first. Since you've already had apparent electrical connection problems, there's little reason to suspect the distributor. A problem within the distributor will not keep the engine from cranking, so diagnose it first.

 

it does crank now, but gets no spark at all. that is the current problem.

 

bump.

engine cranks very strong, ign module is good, dist/rotor/coil is good, plugs and wires are good. no moisture in dist. "primary power" is fine. car has 13.8 volts when i turn they key to on, everything electrical comes on fine...

tested for spark, engine is getting no spark whatsoever.

 

Do you get spark from the coil? I had some bad distributor caps do this to me. (Autozone red caps....) they would work fine for a day or so, and then the car would just quit......

 

well this is interesting.

NOW IT STARTS.

didn't do a thing to it and i go to start it today, and it just starts right up.

WTF.

runs very good too... but now my check engine light comes on? WTF?

is there any way to check for codes on a car this old? will it even display codes? does it even have a diagnostic port??