Has anyone had this problem? Starter motor engages but will not turn over motor. Not a heat soak problem, have a heat shield, happens cold or hot, intermittent problem. Could it be something in the steering column. Had a column shift, but it's been a stock floor shift for years. Changed out 3 starters in 1 year. Happens with brand new starters. checked and cleaned contacts for wiring. nuetral safty switch bypassed. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. PS- '71 Chevelle malibu, auto trans.

Have you checked your chassis and the battery ground?

Have you checked your chassis and the battery ground?

Battery ground is good. chassis ground, coming off the battery ground cable to the body? That seems to be fine too. Sometimes when I move the colum where the shifter was, It starts, but again this is inconsistant too.

What about the throw adjustment on the ignition switch?

Starter motor engages but will not turn over motor.
Assuming this means you hear the solenoid pull in and the starter drive engage flywheel would rule out the ignition or neutral safety switch.
Sounds like bad solenoid or a low voltage problem caused by a bad cable connection.

Is the negative battery cable connected to the engine block?

Intermittent failures can be a bear to trace down.

I threw out the ignition info because he said when he fiddled with the steering column it started. Short of being there it's often difficult to determine what exactly a person is trying to say or what the car is doing.

i kinda have the same problem on my 69 chevelle right now also! the selonid kicks out but the starter motor does not turn i thought it was bad starter so i JUST replaced mine and the same thing happens!!! the car started fine all last week till thrusday :( any help would be great! how many volts should be at the purple wire with the key in "start" mode ? maybe a bad wire ? all my grounds are good!

I threw out the ignition info because he said when he fiddled with the steering column it started. Short of being there it's often difficult to determine what exactly a person is trying to say or what the car is doing.
Yeah, it's hard to interpret, visualize and diagnose sometimes isn't it. :yes:

I had this problem with a 70 Mustang one time. it started to crank but acted like a very weak battery. after putting a battery charger on it all day to no avail I discoverd it wasnt fully in park. a very poor conection from the nutral saftey switch or ignition switch can act like a weak battery. I would either bypass the switch or position the colum where nutral would be and if thats not it pull the ignition off the colum and test it. I also have seen a very old posotive battery cable not allow enuff juice thru. when we cut it open it had lots of corrosion under the insulation we couldnt see.

This sounds like something it might be. Solenoid doesn't always kick out. Any advise on adjusting the throw? Thanks.

Neg. battery cable is connected to the top alternater bracket, It's been like that since I bought the car in '96, and never had this problem before. Guess I should try connecting it to the block. Thanks.

Ok i changed the POS> battery cable with a new one........ come to find out the resistance is a big thing not VOLTS ( the wire had way to high resistance ) and you cant see it you have to use a meter to check it!!!!! Put the NEW cable on and the car starts up all day long!!!!!

HOPE THIS HELPS ANYONE ELSE AND THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP FROM EVERYONE!!!!!:)

grounding direct to the block is always best. my chevelle also has a smaller ground wire to the fender and a strap from the tran to the frame. I had a charging problem I couldnt find when I bought my car and after several hours of testing and checking everything I discoverd my ignition switch on the colum had a dead poll that should have been hot in the on position. after I changed it I took the old one apart and found exessive amount of black soote inside. I cant be sure this was the cause but the guy who worked on the car before hooked the ground to a water neck bolt on an aluminum intake.

i had put many grounds on my car, from the battery to the block, from the other side of the block to the frame, from the frame to the core support , (these are all 4gauge wires) then a thinner one from the battery to the fender, and in the back of the car i also have a ground from the frame to the body ..... i know its a little much but rather safe than sorry!

It almost sound like the solenoid is not engaging with the fly wheel. There is a shift fork that engages the starter with the flywheel. Mite want to see if it is engaging.

Simple test to do is take an OHMS meter and test the solenoid.
Hook the positive end to the batter cable on the solenoid and the neg end to the motor wire on the solenoid. If you get high reading of amps on your meter then you have a mechanical problem with solenoid. If you have low amp reading you have a electrical problem.

Try it out...

Kyle