14 replies to this topic

[Bumzag]

Cars been running fine and starting normal after swapping fuel injectors. Lately however it hasn’t been starting. Thought it was the starter, swapped that out but it’s still doing the same thing.

I’m thinking it’s the ignition switch because the key inserts and turns fine, everything powers up when I go to start, there’s a click, and then nothing. If I wait a few minutes, some times a half hour, it starts just fine. Sometimes if I turn the key all way to the on position and then off 3-4 times, it’ll start up. Others, I have to wait

Does this sound like an ignition switch, a 2nd bad starter, or maybe an electrical issue killing my starters?

Thanks

[OhMyGS]

Your battery has been tested to be good? All cables and connections are good, clean, and tight? To me your description sounds like a bad battery or bad connection.

[Bumzag]

I’ll have it tested and recheck connections but I tried jumping it once thinking that was it and it still wouldn’t start

[Fast86GN]

I’ll have it tested and recheck connections but I tried jumping it once thinking that was it and it still wouldn’t start

 

If you have bad connections like OhMyGS said then it may not jump start. Did you get it checked out?

[ejguillot]

As said by OhMyGS and Fast86GN, you'll want to verify that the wiring and connections are working as expected. 

 

As these cars age, I find the wiring does need some attention and remediation to prevent problems (replacing the black harness sleeves is a common thing, after 20 years of heat soaking the plastic crumbles like old crackers).

[Bumzag]

Car was running fine for a while, issue popped back up. Had the battery tested, all is well. The connections are clean and corrosion free. I swapped a few relays in the fuse box, the 3604’s, from the cooling fan slots to the ignition main and crank. The car started. Then I shut the car off, and it wouldn’t start. I’m having trouble believing the new starter is bad

[OhMyGS]

Just for shits and giggles, get yourself a piece of 8 or 10 gauge wire. Connect the new wire between the negative battery post and the dogbone mount on the engine. See if that helps; at least it's cheap and easy.

[Bumzag]

You think it’s a ground issue? I was also gonna take some jumper cables and connect the positive to the starter solenoid to see if it’ll crank

[ejguillot]

You can certainly do that.  It would be easier (and a better test) to connect the positive battery terminal to the solenoid terminal that engages the solenoid.

 

Regarding engine grounds, there is (or should be) a fairly substantial ground cable bolted from the negative battery terminal to the engine/trans bellhousing bolt nearest the starter.  There is also a smaller diameter ground cable from the negative terminal to the chassis (less than a foot run, ends more or less underneath the under hood fuse block).  The chassis connection for that cable on my Regal wasn't that good - I made and ran a cable from the negative terminal to the bolt on the chassis brace that runs over the battery.

 

Test the ground cable and positive cable (from battery to starter) this way (straight out of the FSM):

 

Measurements are engine off, all cables attached as normal.

Positive cable: With a meter, first measure the voltage between negative and positive terminals.  Then measure from negative terminal to the starter solenoid terminal that the positive cable attaches to.  The difference in the measurements should be less than 0.4 volts.

Ground cable: With a meter, first measure the voltage between negative and positive terminals.  Then measure from positive terminal to the engine block, then to a bare chassis point.  The difference in the measurements should be less than 0.4 volts.

 

Try that and let us know the result.

Edited by ejguillot, 05 December 2019 - 12:14 AM.

[Bumzag]

Everything you just said is incredibly useful, thank you. Will run through all of this soon and report back.

[Bumzag]

Finally got around to it; bolt for the ground wire off the negative terminal was rusted to hell, it snapped when trying to take it off. Got a self tapping screw, sanded next to the old bolt and attached the ground to the chassis, slapped some dielectric on it.

Seems to be starting now, but it still occasionally does the thing where it clicks once and then doesn’t turn over

[ejguillot]

The one that ended underneath the fuse block?  That's the one that I found lacking.  Definitely consider running an additional ground from the chassis to the negative battery post.

[Bumzag]

Yeah the short one beneath the fuse block. I’ll try running an additional ground

[ejguillot]

Any luck?

[Bumzag]

Been traveling for work a lot, haven’t driven the car much but when I do it’s been starting fine. Had to contend with the coolant elbows, there were leaking and I didn’t realize. Did a flush and swapped elbows.

I got a new ground wire all made up, just gotta slap it in there