[Marxie]

My 66 was sitting over the summer and my dad was starting it every few weeks.
It wouldn't turn over... I tested the battery, it was 4 years old and wouldnt hold a charge so I got a new one. I could get a low volume on the radio and no click/turn over in park or neutral. I installed a rebuilt starter a week later and same thing...low radio, no turn over/click. Jiggled key, pounded head on dash.... I tried jumping it from my truck and nothing. After removing cables, I dont even have radio now. I was very careful making sure the new starter was replaced as removed wires etc. The car is stock although the engine was rebuilt 3 years ago and the A-hole mechanic did a crappy job and filed backruptcy. It did turn right over until recently. Any help would be appreciated since I dont have the funds to tow it to a mechanic and do a diagnostic right now and getting it back into the garage off of a tow truck will surely result in body damage (think thread the needle) Thanks in advance!!

 

[Finally]

Do you know if the battery is fully charged now and holding a charge? It still sounds like a dead battery. If the battery charge is good then I would start looking at cables. They may be corroded, maybe inside the insulation, and can't pass any current. Maybe just corroded connections.

 

[Pro68Camaro]

Does the horn honk and the headlights turn on? If no, it sounds like the lead from the junction block on the core support (I'm not familiar w/'66 although my '70 had one there) to the positive battery cable is toast if there is no power to start the car. Test light that spot. If it isn't hot, your connection could be bad or your fusible link could be fried. You can temporarily jump across it to bump the car over. Don't hardwire it permanently - it needs a fusible link. You can also jump the solenoid to the battery terminal on the starter. If your battery and starter are good, it'll crank.

 

[blown70]

Sounds to me like a poor ground.Take your ground cable off and clean BOTH ends...esspetially the engine side(cable and block).You probably have a ground cable going to the engine and a ground WIRE to the body from the battery.With a bad engine ground cable you may be grounding through the body-ground which is only about a 12gauge wire.

 

[68ssvelle]

yes try jumping the starter sol. if not .prob that 12V rad. core support connection like said above ..i cars been down 10 years ,,woulnt start in no dash lights and no head lights ,,i was going crazy..i remember i had a hot wire running to the pass side core support its on the eng side ..

 

[Marxie]

Re: no start..what next? round 2

OK....heres the update..still no start... Replaced the positive and negative battery cables to the new starter and ground to the engine block. Horn now works and radio gets full power. I have power to the starter...got a spark when I tried to close the loop on the starter with a screwdriver.... It's surprisingly tight under there when it's in place.. I have to admit it freaked me out a bit to get the spark while laying under the car on blocks even though they were long 6X8's ( I work wood for a living and have lost body bits from rigged situations) I can survive w/o a few fingertips, but getting crushed is hard to forget. I tried switching the leads to the starter just in case I had a brain fart and switched the 2 wires.... no start... I replaced the wires to original position.. I removed and scraped the 2 small wire connections off of the positive and negative leads... No change.... I tried to start in park and neutral w/o success... Is there a chance the safety mechanism in the column is broken that prevents starting in gear is broken? Could it be an interuption between key and starter? Can I safely jump/arc the starter w/o blowing anything? Should I just get the thing towed and get it out of the rain for now? Thanks....

 

[Surfcat64]

Re: no start..what next? round 2

You can jump the starter without hurting anything. If the starter doesn't turn when you jump it, it's no good. That is, assuming your battery is OK.
It would be safer to use a remote starter switch hooked to the starter for this test instead of jumping it from underneath using a screwdriver etc.

 

[d1_bradley]

If it is the neutral safety switch, just jumper the two purple wires together. BE SURE THE TRANSMISSION IS IN PARK when doing this.

 

[Dean]

It is a little scary to jump the solenoid while under the car.

My son's friend killed himself doing it when he forgot to take the transmission out of gear.

You can do ALMOST the same thing from above by jumpering from the battery positive post to the purple wire going to the starter's "S" terminal.

Another safe way is to disconnect the battery cables and install a tempory wire on the "S" terminal post of the starter along with the purple wire and take it up near the battery.
Connect the cables back up and touch that wire to the positive post (after you make sure it's not in gear.)

 

[Philip]

Have you tried turning the engine manually? If you can't turn it by hand the problem isn't in the cables or starter.

 

[Pro68Camaro]

Connect a wire to the starter solenoid terminal where the purple wire goes. Touch it to the battery and it should turn over regardless of the start or neutral safety switches' condition. If that doesn't work your starter is bad.