Questionthe car will not turn over at all it does not crank. i have been told to maybe replace the battery cable and or the starter thank you for your time-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I Have a 1978 corvette that sometimes won't start after it has been driven a little while about twenty minutes or so. usually in warm weather but not always. if it sets about two hours then it will start again
Answer -
There are many possiblities here. To start narrowing them down, post a "follow-up" question back to me with the following:
By "not start", do you mean it cranks (turns over) but does not fire, or do you mean it doesn't crank when you twist the key?
Lastly, I doubt it, but to make sure, do you mean it starts but immediately stalls, or stalls a few minutes after it starts?
Do you smell gasoline under the hood when this happens? If you haven't checked, next time it does this, open the hood and sniff, and if you're not sure, take the air cleaner lid off the top of the carburetor and sniff into the carburetor.
Does the car have the original ignition system and carburetor, or has it been "updated"?
Tell me all you can about this, and I'll see if I can come up with a cure.
Dick
AnswerYou can go at it that way, or you can do some more testing - your choice!
If you want to do some more testing, do the following:
Next time it won't crank, turn on the headlights and see if they come on full bright. If they do not come on, try cleaning the battery cable connections at the battery by removing the cable connections and then cleaning the cable ends and the battery connections so that you have clean bright metal to metal contact at each battery terminal. Then try the headlights again to see if they come on. If they still don't, then remove the battery cables at BOTH ends and clean them up, and clean the locations where they attach to the engine block and the starter main terminal. Now try the headlights again - they'll come on unless there is something seriously wrong with your electrical system, in which case you'll need to remove and clean all the contacts in the bulkhead connector between the engine compartment and the inside of the car. This is something you'll probably want to leave to a professional.
If the headlights do come on, then try to crank the engine and have someone report what the headlights do when you try to crank. If they go out, you probably have a dirty battery cable connection at the battery post end. Take both battery cables off and clean the connectors so that both the battery terminal and the cable ends are clean, bright shiny metal. Then see if your problem goes away.
If, when you try to crank it, the headlights just go somewhat dim, but do not go all the way out, your starter is probably bad.
If when you try to crank it, the headlights do not dim at all, The solenoid is probably bad, or else the ignition switch needs adjustment. You can sort this out be listening carefully.
When you turn the ignition to the "start" position, do you hear a definite "click" from the area of the starter (the lower right side of the engine)? If the answer is yes, you hear the click, but the starter doesn't crank the engine, the solenoid is probably bad.
If you DON'T hear the click, the ignition switch probably needs adjustment. This switch adjustment is very simple, and it won't cost anything if you do it yourself. Look at the steering column near the brake pedal, while you rotate the ignition switch: You'll notice a rod moving up and down, which goes into a long plastic electrical device - this is the actual ignition switch. You'll notice this item is held to the steering column by screws that are in elongated holes. Slightly loosen the mounting screws and push the device up toward the steering wheel about 1/8 of an inch. Now try the starter ---- chances are it is now fixed!
If you still have the problem (the headlights don't dim when you try to start) after all this, the solenoid is probably the culprit. It is very cheap (like under $10) and you can change it yourself, or have it changed for maybe $25. If that fixes it, you've saved yourself about $200,the cost of a new starter! If it doesn't you haven't lost anything because you should replace the solenoid when you replace the starter anyway.
Spending the time investigating thoroughly can save you 90% of the cost of maintaining a car.
Good luck, whichever you decide to do.
Dick
