`79 re- Starting Problem

[Gary Bishop]

From a friend.

My 79. Starts fine, the first time. Drive a bit, park, restart acts as if BATT. is dead. A jump starts it. Charge indicator, reads in the good zone. No head lights working.
Batt. is fine, 100% and being charged by alt at the right amount. Still no start at second try. Still no head lights.
What may be the problem?

[Jack H.]

Re: `79 re- Starting Problem

This 'could' be a starter heat soak issue, Gary, but the info is a bit scant to really diagnose... If you can re-create the problem and simply let the car sit with the hood open to promote cooling, will it re-start by itself again?

If this is the case, test it a bit further by doing a cold start, driving the car to get things fully warmed under the 'bonnet' and now return to your driveway and shut 'er down within reach of a garden hose. Verify that she will NOT crank/start, and simply run some cool water over the starter motor (won't take long) to FORCE it to cool being careful not to splash water onto your exhaust manifold (don't want to crack it).

If she starts without prolonged sitting, you can probably conclude there's a heat soak problem to go solve. Here are three primary culprits to check out:

(1) Are all the electrical connections to the starter clean and tight?

(2) If the AIM calls for a form of heat shielding on the starter is it there?

(3) Has the starter solenoid been rebuilt recently and if so did they change out the return spring? Many kits include fresh solenoid springs that are passenger car generics vs. the slightly weaker version of the spring that was used on Corvette to compensate for the starter sitting in a 'hostle' environment (between the block and the ramshorn exhaust mani) where radiated heat can stiffen the solenoid spring to the point there's insufficient current to overcome the spring and actuate the starter.

[Jack H.]

Re: `79 re- Starting Problem

This 'could' be a starter heat soak issue, Gary, but the info is a bit scant to really diagnose... If you can re-create the problem and simply let the car sit with the hood open to promote cooling, will it re-start by itself again?

If this is the case, test it a bit further by doing a cold start, driving the car to get things fully warmed under the 'bonnet' and now return to your driveway and shut 'er down within reach of a garden hose. Verify that she will NOT crank/start, and simply run some cool water over the starter motor (won't take long) to FORCE it to cool being careful not to splash water onto your exhaust manifold (don't want to crack it).

If she starts without prolonged sitting, you can probably conclude there's a heat soak problem to go solve. Here are three primary culprits to check out:

(1) Are all the electrical connections to the starter clean and tight?

(2) If the AIM calls for a form of heat shielding on the starter is it there?

(3) Has the starter solenoid been rebuilt recently and if so did they change out the return spring? Many kits include fresh solenoid springs that are passenger car generics vs. the slightly weaker version of the spring that was used on Corvette to compensate for the starter sitting in a 'hostle' environment (between the block and the ramshorn exhaust mani) where radiated heat can stiffen the solenoid spring to the point there's insufficient current to overcome the spring and actuate the starter.