QuestionHi. My 64 impala (327, AT) won't start. I just purchased the car and it would start kind of rough right away (sounded like the starter). I started it, backed it out of the garage and washed it. Went to restart it to drive it back in the garage and it wouldn't start or turn over. When I tried to start it, it sounded like the sound the starter would make if the car was running and you turned the key. It made that noise the few times I tried to atart it and then no noise at all when I tried to start it. Did I burn the starter out? I tried jumping the car and still nothing. I took out the starter and bench tested it and it did nothing. So I got a new starter and installed it.
Still the car won't start, but now it makes a rapid clicking sound, but won't turn over. So that is where I sit now. I don't want to ruin the new starter. Could it be the flywheel is jammed and burning the starter out? I haven't tried to rotate the fly wheel yet.
Also, I believe that the previous owner said the starter was fairly new that was in their when I bought the car. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
AnswerIt takes more than a few minutes to burn out a starter, so even if the engine is stuck solid, I doubt you've hurt the starter.
You can check to see if the engine turns by grabbing the fan belts and pulling hard. If it won't turn that way, get a long handled breaker bar type socket wrench handle of the right size for the center bolt in the front crankshaft pulley - I think it is 1 1/4 inch on a smallblock Chevy, but I'm not sure. Whatever, you can feel down there and pick the right socket. Now put your breaker bar on it and you should be able to rotate the engine fairly easily. If it won't turn, try taking the spark plugs out and try again. If it still won't turn, you don't have an engine, you have an expensive boat anchor!
If it will turn with the spark plugs removed, you've had a case of hydrostatic lock - in other words, there was fluid in one or more cylinders. You need to find out why. Smell the fluid that gushed out the spark plug hole when you turned the engine - if it's gasoline, you're lucky, you have only a bad carburetor - probably the needle valve is stuck open. If it's oil or water, you have big problems, the engine has to come apart.
The rapid clicking sound is what happens when the starter isn't able to turn the engine.
If the engine is not stuck, then the problem is either a bad starter, or (more likely) a poor electrical connection in the supply to the starter, and this can be either in the positive or ground cables or their connections. Before you blame the starter, let's investigate the electrical supply.
First, take both battery cables off the battery, and either swap in a different battery which you know is fully charged (like the one out of your daily driver), or take the battery to an auto-parts store and have them "load test" it.
Now, we know the battery is OK, let's start checking out the cables. First step is to inspect them - are both ends of both cables clean, bright metal, with no corrosion, no "clamp on" repair type ends, and are they fastened securely to whatever they go to, with nothing but clean bright metal in contact at the bolts that mount them? If not, fix it!
Now, I'm betting it will start like a champ. If not, let's verify that the starter switch is OK.
Jack the car up and put it on GOOD jack stands. Put the shifter in Park and set the parking brake.
Now, Look at the 3 starter connections - there is the big cable end, then there are two other smaller wires on seperate terminals.
Find the one that comes to the terminal labeled "S" on the starter. Using an additional wire or screwdriver tip, whichever you can get in there, connect directly from the battery + terminal (or the big cable end on the starter) to the "S" terminal. The starter should crank normally. If you connect to the wrong terminal (the other one is "R") it won't hurt anything, so if you can't see clearly, just try them both. You'll get a spark off the "R" terminal if the points are closed, but it won't hurt anything.
If this doesn't make the starter crank, take the starter back where you bought it and have them test it. If it checks out, repeat all you've done, because you've missed something somewhere.
If the starter cranks now, but still sounds bad, you'll have to inspect the flywheel for tooth damage. You can turn the engine with a big wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt, and look through the starter mounting hole with a strong light and a mirror to see as much of the flywheel as you can for each position of the engine. If the flywheel looks OK, heave a sigh of relief and put the starter back in, but this time clean off the mating surfaces where the starter bolts on to make sure it is making metal to metal contact (this is the only way the starter is grounded, so up to 400 AMPs of current has to be able to flow for the starter to work right!)
If the flywheel teeth look chewed up, you're in for an expensive repair. Either the engine or the transmission has to come out to get at it, and if you are not up to doing this yourself, you'll have to have the car towed to a mechanic to have this done.
I'll stop here; please post a "follow up" to me and tell me what you find out.
Dick (who drove a car like yours when they were new and was VERY Impressed - I thought it drove like a dream compared to my 57 tBird!)
