Roadkill_58

Guys,

I'm at the final stage of a 6-year build.

Yesterday should've been a case of adding the final parts to my Camaro's steering and then going for my first drive in her for over 6 years !

But. She wouldn't start.

To summarise she's a '83 Z28 with a '93 LT1/T56.

The engine is generally stock (some top end work). She's been test run previously with no issues at all. The last time she was started was about 6 weeks ago and since then there's been no major electrical work or mechical work done (rubbish weather and I've been on holiday).

The battery is good (but we checked it with another anyway), every test we did seemed to point to the starter itself (we even isolated it from every other system in the car) but she wouldn't turn over.

We removed the starter from the car and bench-tested it. The shaft is extending and the gear turned (seems to be turning pretty quick but I have no previous benchmark to compare it to).

We put it back on the car and tried again - it's definitely engaging but is only nudging the flywheel round a degree or two at a time then stopping.

I've turned the engine by hand so know it's not seized.

The starter is a GMPP 12361146, was brand new about 3 years ago and has only done about 15 start-ups.

The starter is a "high torque" one but doesn't appear to have the "ummph" to turn the engine over.

Is possible that the starter is dead already ?

I really want to get this project done and start enjoying the car again but yesterday was utterly soul-destroying !!!

Cheers, Guys and Gals.

EDIT -

Just had a thought - the only thing I've done recently is removed the steering column (and disconnected all the connectors inside the car). I've checked and re-checked that they're all re-connected O.K but is it possible that this has made an impact on anything ??

Roadkill_58

All sorted.

Justin89Formy

iTrader: (26)

what was it?

Roadkill_58

A bit weird. I have a Optima Red battery on the car but this was showing 6V so all the tests were conducted using a known good battery on my daily driver (turbo diesel) - at this point I should mention that I can jump start my '58 Cadillac off of this car !

At all times we were getting a solid 14V from my daily's battery (we had it running to make sure it was delivering as much as possible during the tests, too).

But this wasn't enough to turn the starter under load - just off of the cars and in a vice.

I got a friend to charge my Optima using a C-TEK charger for a couple of hours. We dropped it back into the Camaro and it was only showing 10V but I thought I had nothing to loose so tried turning it over.

She fired up first time with no issues despite barely showing 10V compared to the solid 14V she was receiving from my daily ?

The Optima battery has since been on a full "maintenance" cycle on the battery charger to be on the safe side.

It's weird because I've previously used my daily to jump about 5-6 different cars with no issues - Including the Camaro - I never thought that it wouldn't be delivering enough.

I assume that when I jumped it previously there must've been enough juice in the Camaro's battery to top it up enough to start whereas this time there wasn't.

I've now invested in a C-TEK charger so even when the Camaro's not being used she can be on a maintenance cycle to maintain the battery.

Lessons learned. A day wasted but thankfully no money.

ternandes

iTrader: (7)

Glad you got it fixed. Voltage is not a measure of power; it's a measure of force. You need enough power to supply sufficient current flow.

To illustrate this, try putting 8 "D" cell batteries end to end in series. This will give you ~12V... but it won't turn the engine over in your car, because it can't supply enough current. The same was true for your battery and the boost you gave it.

A boost is an assist for the battery, but you still need a battery with a partial charge. If you put a boost on your engine with no battery installed, it won't be enough to start the car.

Roadkill_58

I think I just under estimated how dead the Optima was as I did initially try to jump it with the battery in place.

Was good to have her running again.

Went for a quick low-speed drive down my street afterwards. Made my day.

ternandes

iTrader: (7)

Yep. Nothing like taking her for a spin after solving a problem.