Ok, so for the whole back story: Out of the blue the car decided not to start while I was dropping stuff off at my parent's house. Started no problem earlier in the day and when I went to crank it nothing. No click or anything. End up bypassing the clutch start switch with a paperclip and I am back on the road. Order a new switch from Rock Auto, go to put it in and nothing. OK, so back to the paper clip, but I can't get it back to just right and it won't start. Clip the wires and wind them up together with a wire nut, go to start and get a horrible chatter noise and it won't start. Car sits all night and most of the next day and then starts normally with no chatter noise. Drive it and off an on it starts doing it again. So, replace the starter with re-manufactured unit from O'Reilly Auto. Everything in and car starts better than it has (starter would sometimes not even engage so I knew it was getting close to change it time anyway). Five days later it starts to intermittently do the chatter again, check the battery age and its 7 years old. Replace the battery as a preventative measure and the car starts and no chatter issue. The next day the car starts and shows no issues until my wife and I are about to head out for dinner and the chatter/start issue is back every time you turn the key.

Take the starter out, take it to O'Reillys to bench test and everything tests good. Put it back in and still not working right. Put 4 shims in on the off chance it was binding (didn't think so since it was working find for nearly a week) and no change, chatter doesn't seem as loud and it will start up fairly easy but still isn't right. The gal at O'Reilly recommended changing out the battery cables and I have replacement parts in the garage (well, the short pig tails she sold me), but I don't see any visible corrosion on the cables that connect to the battery and I cleaned a tiny bit off the lead that connects to the starter. Battery reads 12.7 volts at rest, goes down to about 12.4 when you put the key in the on position and the reading drops when you crank it (normal or something needing investigating?). I cleaned a bunch of grease off the ground cable where it mounts to the block and no change. I really don't like the idea of cutting the stock cables to splice in the repair cables if I don't have to. Would it be better off ordering the full length replacement cables from Rock Auto?

Link to Video of what is happening: https://www.flickr.com/gp/jsm09/h97U5F

Car is an 1988 so no VATS, 305 TPI factory 5-speed if that matters any.

 

I can't tell what's exactly happening in that video. Sounds like either one of two things:

1. Missing or chewed up teeth on the flywheel/flexplate.

2. The starter solenoid isn't staying pulled in - this is an electrical issue. Since the battery is new (and I assume fully charged and the alt is working), and the starter is new (though an O'Reilly's starter [or any other parts store unit] is immediately suspect because it's off-shore bottom-feeder crap), that leaves the cables and ends. Trust me - under the insulation they can be REALLY nasty. Best to make your own - get some 1 AWG welding/trailing cable, lugs, a hydraulic crimper, and some of the 1" 3M heavy wall heat shrink with sealant. Don't buy the pre-made crap from China.

GD

 

Thanks for the information. Flywheel teeth looked great both times I had the starter off. I don't have the time or tools to make my own cables, so hopefully the AC Delco branded cables from Rock Auto do the trick. Just seems strange if the cables are corroded inside that its fine one day and the next the starter is acting up - which is why I initially thought the week old starter could be bad, but taking it into O'Reilly's it bench tested Good. Next week I'll be replacing the cables/ends and see what happens then. Ready to be driving it again!

 

Sounds like a bad starter. If the new cables doesn’t fix your problem I’d get a starter from a 96 vette. I got mine at Auto Zone with a lifetime warranty for like $180. Direct bolt in replacement, smaller than a stock 3rd gen but cranks better. And if the new cables don’t fix it bring your starter back into O’Reilly, tell em it is giving you problems already and you just want a refund. Then get the 96 vette one.

 

Thanks for the feedback. An update today, went to move the car off the stands/ramps Saturday and it started up no problems, no chatter at all. Turned it off and started it a couple more times - started perfect. Also started with no issue Sunday through today (driving to work, running errands - not one issue). The battery cables arrived yesterday, so I still plan on changing them for good measure, as the back of the mind keeps wondering when it's going to act up again. Wondering if the heat (road trip/hot weather) could have exposed an issue with the cables? We'll see how everything goes from here...