[bad.samaritan]

Went down to the local meet and parked. Event attendant asked me to move and the car wouldn't crank I couldn't even hear a click...just kind of a odd buzz. Eventually a homeless guy suggested a I try holding up on the column shift lever (pushing it into Park) and turning the key at the same time. It fired up normally on the first try. I'm guessing I should start looking at the NSS, but was also wondering if heat and my starter would have something to do with it. My new power master starter has the battery terminal and the purple wire low towards the bottom of the starter body instead of up high on the solenoid. which puts these connections closer to the starter than I would like, but this is the first issue I have had.

Brand New Power master starter wrapped in a heat shield
Purple wire also wrapped in heat shield
NSS looks to be original to the car.

 

[Leadhead]

Sounds like your shifter is loose and not going all the way into the park position, or slop in the linkage. I've had it happen on a couple cars in the past. Or you might see if there's an adjustment on the NSS to move it closer.

 

[71350SS]

That homeless guy must've owned a 60's or 70's car at some time in his travels because lots of cars from those times needed that move to get them to start.To fix it try this.:
Follow that shifter down to the lower part of the steering column then check to see whats moving when you're.... "holding up on the column shift lever" ....You will probably need a helper to move the column shifter for you but whatever you're moving would be right there under the dash.Both the NSS and the ignition switch are there,either one of them could be loose and/or affected when you moved that shift lever.See which one it is then you can fix it.

 

[oldcutlass]

Follow the directions in adjusting the NSS. This is not a starter problem.

 

[modern malibu]

First of all,did the problem occur only after replacing the starter? If the problem exsted before the starter change I would then check the nss for contact problem. If not, the problem may be a heat soak issue, even though it sounds that you did your best to insulate the starter ahead of time.Check your ground cable and positive cables for any marginal connections. A voltage drop test is the only accurate way to test this A voltmeter on the nss will tell you if the contacts of the switch are sending B+ voltage to the starter while cranking. Do not test the switch with a test light only as as little as 9 volts will light the light.

 

[bad.samaritan]

I appreciate the replies. I bought a new NSS to have on hand and will check the linkage and the NSS and see if it's ok. So far today I haven't been able to get it to do it again. I've tried 2-3x so far.

That homeless guy must've owned a 60's or 70's car at some time in his travels because lots of cars from those times needed that move to get them to start.To fix it try this.:
Follow that shifter down to the lower part of the steering column then check to see whats moving when you're.... "holding up on the column shift lever" ....You will probably need a helper to move the column shifter for you but whatever you're moving would be right there under the dash.Both the NSS and the ignition switch are there,either one of them could be loose and/or affected when you moved that shift lever.See which one it is then you can fix it.

He said he had a Skylark once upon a time "When times were better". That last part kinda stuck with me. I thanked him while everything was going on, but it was hot as hell and I really just wanted out of there before the car acted up some more. Today I tracked him down and bought him a meal and something to drink.

First of all,did the problem occur only after replacing the starter? If the problem exsted before the starter change I would then check the nss for contact problem. If not, the problem may be a heat soak issue, even though it sounds that you did your best to insulate the starter ahead of time.Check your ground cable and positive cables for any marginal connections. A voltage drop test is the only accurate way to test this A voltmeter on the nss will tell you if the contacts of the switch are sending B+ voltage to the starter while cranking. Do not test the switch with a test light only as as little as 9 volts will light the light.

I installed the new starter a few weeks ago, and until this incident it has worked flawlessly. The day this happened, I had driven it to work, went to lunch, ran errands and not a peep. The only thing that was different was it was really hot outside, and I had to sit in some traffic to get to the event. Engine temps were normal (183*) but I thought maybe the stop and go traffic might have heated things up a bit more. Battery cables are both 0/0 and brand new. Batt is good, alt has been charging 13V. I went from fine, to no crank, no start, to a perfect/crank start. Slow cranking or clicking never occured.

 

[bad.samaritan]

quick update..the screws holding the NSS were pretty loose. I adjusted it, and tightened them down. I ran it through all positions and verified that the car only starts in P and N. Still need to do the voltage drop test.

 

[bad.samaritan]

Question.......if this does turn out to be a heat soak issue, what options do I have? Starter is wrapped in a thermal blanket as is the purple wire. Do I need to run a remote starter solenoid? They seem like they have mixed reviews here

 

[71350SS]

He said he had a Skylark once upon a time "When times were better". That last part kinda stuck with me. I thanked him while everything was going on, but it was hot as hell and I really just wanted out of there before the car acted up some more. Today I tracked him down and bought him a meal and something to drink.



I installed the new starter a few weeks ago, and until this incident it has worked flawlessly. The day this happened, I had driven it to work, went to lunch, ran errands and not a peep. The only thing that was different was it was really hot outside, and I had to sit in some traffic to get to the event. Engine temps were normal (183*) but I thought maybe the stop and go traffic might have heated things up a bit more. Battery cables are both 0/0 and brand new. Batt is good, alt has been charging 13V. I went from fine, to no crank, no start, to a perfect/crank start. Slow cranking or clicking never occured.

That's a great thing that you did for that guy in return for his help.I think once you adjust that linkage you'll have solved the problem it may just be a loose bolt under there.

 

[oldcutlass]

Again, it is not a heat soak issue it was your loose and out of adjustment NSS.

 

[vortec710]

If all you have to do to start it is move the shift lever up a bit to get it to start....might want to consider it a theft deterrent.....fwiw.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

a homeless guy suggested

I chuckled at this. Doesn’t seem heat related if you just needed to get the shift lever in the correct position and it started right up. I’d leave as is for now to see if the same problem keeps happening and you have to keep it in the P position to get it to crank. This is a fairly common problem with these cars with column shift.

 

[bad.samaritan]

I chuckled at this. Doesn’t seem heat related if you just needed to get the shift lever in the correct position and it started right up. I’d leave as is for now to see if the same problem keeps happening and you have to keep it in the P position to get it to crank. This is a fairly common problem with these cars with column shift.

I was at Cruising Grand in downtown Escondido, which is a cool event, but yeah all types are down there. That being said I asked a few of the other car guys near by if they had any tools to help me out and none of them said anything. Homeless guy let me borrow some channel locks so I could tighten down my battery clamp