Starter Not Cranking

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:07 pm

My 1980 Spider has been working great the past few years. I took it out for a spin the other day, shut the engine off and I could not get the car to start. I had to push start it. It seems as though the starter will not even crank. I place the key in the ignition...turn it on...warning lights come on, door chimes, etc, but then when I go in for the final turn, I hear one big click and a humming but nothing happens. I have power at the Solenoid. I am a bit of a novice, so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

courtenay · Post by **courtenay** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:16 pm

I and others have had a similar problem. There's two wires running near the alternator that are connected to the starter. They are the red and brown wires in the picture. Disconnect them at the bullet connectors, clean the contacts and reconnect. Might solve your problem. I have to do mine quite frequently. Some folks have taken the connectors out of the line and soldered the connections and covered them with shrink tubing.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:26 pm

Thanks. I will give it a shot and let you know. I already cleaned a few other connections, but not the ones at the alternator.

sptcoupe · Post by **sptcoupe** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:40 pm

You might want to check the battery. You can have power at the solenoid and door chimes will ring without enough power to crank it over.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:03 pm

the battery is new. also, i cleaned the connections as the previous poster suggested...car started up. I let it run a while, turned it off and it will not crank again...exactly the same symptoms as in my original post.

courtenay · Post by **courtenay** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:08 pm

You might have to spread the male end of the connector to get a better connection. I used an awl to do this and also put some dielectric grease on the leads.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:12 pm

i will give it another shot. nice way to spend a beautiful saturday.

azruss · Post by **azruss** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:13 pm

my vote is on the solenoid. when power is supplied to the solenoid, it engages the bendix drive and enables a contact plate the connects the 2 exterior lugs. that contact plate can get dirty and not make a good connection. when the motor is cool, the connection seems to work...dont ask me why. when mine did this, i would put power to the starter and give the solenoid a good whack with a broom handle. That usually did the trick. it also told me my solenoid was dying. you can rebuild them yourself. just be careful of the little wire that goes to the field winding. break that and you are DOA.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:22 pm

Seems to be happening when the engine it hot and/or cold. The temp doesn't seem to matter. I was able to get the car started today, shut it off and was unable to start again. I have a feeling that the issue is in the ignition switch.

azruss · Post by **azruss** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:02 am

if its the ignition switch you wont be getting power to the solenoid coil. that you can test with a meter and you will know which is the problem.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:52 pm

frustrating. it seems that i am getting power to the starter solenoid. i took a long screw driver and laid it across the posts...sparks but no turning. question...if the car will start via a push does that mean that the starter solenoid and starter are good and that the issue lies in the ignition wires?

unplugged · Post by **unplugged** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 5:48 pm

Pushing the car buypasses the starter and solenoid so starting by pushing tells you nothing with regard to the health of solenoid/starter.

The click you hear when you turn the key is most likely the solenoid. The solenoid performs 2 funtions IIRC. One is to extend the starter gear to engage the flywheel. The other is to close a switch to send power to the starter. The click you hear would be #1. I have known of issues where the starter gear doesn't deploy all the way because it doesn't mesh with the flywheel correctly due to broken teeth damaged as a result it doesn't get to switch on power to the starter.

The symptons you describe could also be caused by a less then full battery. I had 2 Brand New batteries fail on my recently before I realized I had an issue with my alternator. New doesn't mean it is still good.

To test the solenoid not deploying all the way you need to just jostle the engine slightly and then try to restart it.
So in first gear try and rock it by hand or use a wrench on the front pulley to roate the engine slightly and then try to start it again.

Does LI Spider imply you are from Long Island, NY ?

Good Luck. If I got any of the above wrong please someone jump in and correct.

LISpider · Post by **LISpider** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:23 pm

Unplugged - I will try to rock the engine and see if that will work. The battery in the car is brand new and I actually tried to start the car with a jump from another good battery...nothing. LI does indeed imply that I am on Long Island, just around the corner from you. I am in Greenlawn. I am hoping to avoid a trip to International Auto.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:52 pm

turning or rocking the engine will only help if there are damaged teeth on the flywheel, otherwise it has no effect on the starter. You need to put a voltmeter on the starter connections and find out if you have 12v to the solenoid, Minimum of 9.6 to the solenoid wire with the ign turned to "start", and 12v into the starter motor from the solenoid

How is the ground wire from the floor pan to the transmission?

azruss · Post by **azruss** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:51 pm

jumping the lugs with the screwdriver skips the solenoid. As others said, if the bendix drive is locked in the ring gear, then the starter wont turn. at the same time, you should be able to push the car in neutral. If the car pushes ok in neutral, your starter isnt jammed in the ring gear. rocking the car is an attempt to unbind the bendix drive. Next I would check the ground as Mark suggests. bad ground means weak current flow thru the starter, which requires lots of amps. Finally, your brushes may be shot in the starter.

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