Pontiac Repair: fiero, pontiac fiero, digital multimeter

Question
QUESTION: Hi i have a 1985 pontiac fiero gt automatic V6. it has gotten new life with a rebuilt motor done by me and the time has come to start it up and all it does is buzz. the fuel pump will have a low hum to it. which i have been told that is a good sign since it still has the stock in-tank fuel pump. my motor is not locked up because i can turn it with the wrench. the starter/soleniod, nuetral saftey/backup switch, and ignition switch are all new. the wire that supplies the power coming from the ignition switch is hot in start(normal as i am told). when i touch the 2 soleniod prongs together the starter will not engage but it will hum then cut off. i have multiple wiring diagrams for it and none seem to help. what do u think could be the problem? thanks alot for listening

ANSWER: Hey Jeremy:

My guess is a bad or loose ground wire or a weak battery or a bad positive cable/connection. If the starter motor will not turen over and just hums It may not be getting full battery volatge either on the power or gound side. It could even be a bad remanufacture starter. If you have a didgital volt meter check the voltage at the batttery cable at the starter and the engine ground and crank the car and see what you get It should be what the battery has if not you have a bad connection or high resistance in one of the cables. It should be pretty easy to find. And good luck. I used to like to work on those cars back in the day. When I first started working at the dealer I worked on a ton on those car... I never said they were good cars I just liked working on them.


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QUESTION: ok so i got a digital multimeter and tested all my wires. everything checked out. now what can i do to c if it is the starter? and the starter came with a metal rod about as long as the shims it came with for in between the block and the starter. what would that go to?

ANSWER: I have no Idea what that rod would be for. Obviously the shims are for between the motor and the block if the starter were to grind when it enguages or when it disengauges. What are your readings on the battery wire when cranking the the key is in crank mode also at the purple wire for the "crank signal" same with the ground wire.


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QUESTION: ok so i got the engine to turn but it wuld stop after a few times. i went out and bought a new pulley since the old would not fit and then i went and bought a new battery for the car. shuld i try to start it w/ the new battery and a jump start or just the battery? and is there any possible way i could relieve the engine when it is trying to turn over? bc it feels really tight when i spin it by the front pulley.

Answer
Try it with the new battery. If it is hard to turn is not a good thing. You can take out the spark plugs and that will not allow the engine to build any compression. Try cranking it over that way. If it does but not with the plugs in the extra drag cause by the compression is making it crank slowly. If this engine was put together to tight meaning the bearing cleareance is to tight that's really not a good thing. You burn up a bearing in a heart beat! did you measure the crank and rods before you installed bearings on this engine rebuild? or did you use plasti gauge?