hi all. ive got a 79 l48 atm. seems after driving it for 15-20 minutes it doesnt want tostart. this has only happened a few times while the car is cold.theres power to everything but the engine doesnt turn overand theres noclick from the starter. i jumped the starter and it engages and wants to turn the engine on. i checked voltage at the starter and im only getting 7.5 volts at the starter at the small termimal when the car is hot and im getting 9 volts at the same terminal when its cold. i also checked voltage at the nuetral switch(pink wire) and im getting 12.3 on the on position and 9 at the start position cold or hot. the battery is new and the starter is new. the alternator seems new and is putting out 14.5 volts whilerunning. the car is new to me as is working with electrical so any help or tips will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi Phill, years ago I was working on another Chevy with vette in it's name, about the same vintage as our Vettes. Seems when the car sat in the sun in hot weather the thing would'nt start, so I just kept at it tracing the wires to where I had a voltage drop. Well low and behold I was'nt gettin' no juice through the firewall plug-in connector on the fuse block. In all of GM's wisdom they used a tar like sealer around the connector and when it got hot it would melt and run into the pins of the plug-in thus insulating the brass terminals from one another, it was kinda' strange 'cause it would start OK when cold. Anyway I cleaned up both halves of the connector with carb cleaner and put it back together and never had that problem again. Might be worth checking out if you can't locate any other poor connections.

 

hi buckshot. ive startedto check the wiring and connections as best i can. ive found a few spliced wires some with connecters some just twisted together and taped over it. ive had the car for 8 months. 4 months ago i replaced the starter because of the same problem, that cured it for about 2 months then it came back.i believe the starter is good its just the 9-7.5 volt im getting to it on crank up. ill keep at it learning as i go. thanks for the reply.

 

jump the neu. saftey switch ,you should get very close to batt voltage at S term. on solinoid

 

hey all. i finally got a chance to work on the car this weekend. cleaned up some wiring to the starter andcleaned up the main harness connector, found a bunch of that black tar stuff. took the car out three times and its started all three times. thanks for the tip buckshot. tanker i had the nuetral switch ready to jump but havent needed to. hopefully i wont need to, thanks for the help.

 

finally put the vette back together after a forth successful test drive. took her to work, and yeap she wouldnt fire up for the ride home.i did get her running by jumping the terminals at thestarter.she also cranked up with a jump from my truck but would onlyfire up while the truck was running. i found that unusual but was surprised she cranked up at all with the jump. i did jump the nuetral switch when i got home but that didnt fix the problem.

 

I don't know if this will help, but I had the same kind if issue with an old Jeep I had.
It turned out to be the wire from the seloniod to the starter was corroded. The jeep had an external wire running from the starter to the selonoid, and I don't know if you have the same set-up.
Also had a 71 camero that was missing the heat sheild between the starter and the exhaust manifold.
It gave me the same kind of trouble, but only if I tried starting it shortly after shuting it off. Once the starter cooled down, it would start fine. If you only have 7.5 to 9 volts at the positive side of the seloniod the problem is most likley in the wiring, cause you shold have 12v+ at the terminal. Check for coroded or kinked wires. some of the strands at a kink may have broken internally and are only giving you voltage through a couple strands of the wire, and internaly coroded wires will create resistance that could account for the low voltage also.

 

hi ax. thanks for the reply. ive got a new engine and starter harness waiting to be installed. im also going to replace the nuetral switch as itdoesnt look originalor like any picturesive seen of one. ill keep you all posted.

 

back from the dead. well after a couple of test drives it seems my starting problem is solved(knock on wood). i believe my problem was either the ignition switch(looked bad)or the starter and engine wireharness(bubbatized). i also changed out the nuetral switch.