I bought a trans am yesterday and it has a 327 in it. Obviously not the stock motor. Anyways its been sitting for a few years. I put a battery in the car and all the lights in the car came on. yay. I turned the key and nothing happened. Nothing. Wouldn't I at least hear the starter trying to engage if it was engaging? Its 16 degrees outside and our bays are full in the garage so I can't quite get to it just yet but I'd like to have a decent idea of what I'm in for when I do.

 

Usually if the engine is locked up solid, you'll get a fun CLANG!!! when the starter kicks into a rock solid flywheel. I bought an 86 Firebird from a tow yard years ago... The hood was bent back and no aircleaner. When I pulled the intake the ports in the head were full of rust. Needless to say I threw that engine away.

If the starter does nothing, either the wiring, switches, or the starter itself are bad. Assuming your battery has a charge.

 

Yea, if you're not hearing the starter click, start looking at wiring.
I would also put oil in the cylinders (spark plug holes), and bar it over with all the plugs removed, before hitting it with the starter...

 

Well I took the battery out of my S-10 that I daily drive so it was fully charged. I didn't hear any noises or anything and the starter didn't engage so I think I have a bad ground somewhere. I have an Iroc with the same issue. Where are the grounds on these at? lol

And as for the oil and breaker bar thats a good idea. I need to get it into the shop though. And I'm not sure I can get oil in the motor with it in the car. I did unplug the coil wire to the distributor before I started cranking though so it wouldn't dry start.

 

Where the factory grounds were are kinda irrelevant now aren't they? Normally between the back of the passenger cylinder head and the firewall though.

Just make sure your battery to chassis, and chassis to engine have GOOD (4awg or better) grounding wires, with clean connections.

You can use one of those little red oiling cans ($5 or so) to squirt oil into the spark plug holes.

If you're sub-zero, I can imagine you wanting to push it into your garage before doing any work on it though...

 

Well they are but they aren't. It has the factory computer controlled carb hooked up by the looks of it so for all I know its the stock 305. Which is fine by me, I suppose. I just don't wanna put another engine into it unless I have to.

I guess I'll replace both battery cables. The bolts for the cables were literally frozen into the battery lol. Even if that isn't what it is it certainly couldn't hurt to replace them. Can I run a push button to the starter and use that to crank it?

 

Oh that reminds me, when I do turn the key all the lights on the dash light up and the temp gauge pegs itself out for some reason...dunno whats up with that. Thought it might be worth mentioning.

 

Anyone?

 

Is it a VATS car?

 

starter relay?

 

You've got to troubleshoot it. Have you used a breaker bar and a socket on the crank bolt to see if you can turn the crank? If the engine won't budge, nothing else is going to matter.

Hook up your battery, and check for 12v at the positive post on the starter. Got voltage? If not your battery cables are crap. If so move on to the next step.

Disconnect the solenoid wire, it's the purple lead attached to the tiny post on the starter. Connect a voltmeter or a test light between that wire and ground, and have a helper turn the key.. Battery voltage? If not it's a wiring problem, ignition switch problem, etc. If you've got battery voltage, pull that starter and have it tested.

 

I also bought a 5.7 tpi, it sat for almost a year and when I turn the key nothing turns on. I got a new battery and tested the starter which was good. I did the breaker bar but didn't even budge. My next step is to us penetrating oil and check ignition, any other ideas? This could be a project car