My 77 Pinto (2.3 liter) has decided to act up & being stuck at work I have no information or tools.
I drove to work today & when I got here something told me to restart the car, but it would not crank. No clicks or anything, just the dash lights.
I went ahead & turned on the lights & tried to start the car but they were not affected. I think it is my starter solenoid but I'm not sure. Is there a way to check the solenoid on the car? I have a couple screwdrivers & pliers in my car but that is it.
Thanks for any info to help me get home tonite!
Well, I went to the car on my break & the car cranked right up. I'm thinking the solenoid is getting hot & wouldn't work. Wouldn't shock me, as it is from 1977 so it's time for it to go. Going to get a new one tomorrow, so I don't get stranded.
I think you are on the right track!
Thanks Dave, I hope so.
I went to my apartment after work & shut the car off. When I got back in the car she wouldn't start again. I remove the "S" terminal wire & use a screwdriver to jump to the positive terminal & the car clicked. I reconndected the "S" terminal wire & the car fired right up. I will get a new solenoid & see what will happen when the car drives 30 minutes
Dont be so fast to blame the solenoid, they are more apt to work, or not. 90% of coils and solenoids never have to get replaced but do.
If you car starts cold, and does not hot. Id look at an out of round starter armature.
Its gonna be one or the other.
heat 'soaking' is common.
less expensive and a lot less labor intensive might be to get some insulating material or a sheet metal shield between the exhaust/header/downpipe and the starter/solenoid.
will probably solve the problem
The starting problem has returned, but has gotten worse. Before if I jumped the solenoid I could then start the car with the key. Not so at this moment. Now I have to turn the key to the on position, go outside the car & jump the S terminal to the B+ terminal once I drive the car.
This is not only inconvenient but embarassing. Could it possibly be a bad ignition switch? If not what else could be bad here?
a friend of mine had a similiar problem with a ford ranger..turned out a be a fusible link burned out
That's what I was just thinking, dave. It could be your ignition switch as well though, I would start there since tearing into the wiring harness is a big mess and a lot of work better done last. I had to replace two wires in my 73 station wagon's under dash harness and undoing all of that electrical tape, replacing the wires, and then re wrapping everything and hoping it all fits the same is a pain.
Well, it is currently 11:00pm est & the last time I was able to start the car with the key was 6:00pm est. I was out running errands until around 8:30est. I just went out to the car & was able to fire her up with the key. If it was a fusible link would I have been able to go out & start the car?
I'm not 100% sure about that, but it is possible. I found a bad resistor wire once due to it heating up. One of the two wires in my station wagon's harness which I replaced was like that. The main ignition wire is the one I originally went in to replace, since it was getting pretty toasty, the resistor wire was melted to the ignition wire where they overlapped which explained a lot of odd electrical issues I had with the car since I first obtained it.
Going to Autozone today after work to get an ignition switch for my car. When I drop the steering column I will check for damaged/ bad wires.
sort of a long shot but maybe the neutral safety switch?
good point dave!
matt, when you have issues starting the car, have you tried shifting it through the gears and back to park? Or even shifting it to neutral and trying to start it?
Quote from: dave1987 on April 14, 2011, 09:56:47 PM
good point dave!
matt, when you have issues starting the car, have you tried shifting it through the gears and back to park? Or even shifting it to neutral and trying to start it?
I did & it didn't change anything. That was actually the first thing I thought of, thinking it could be the neutral safety switch. Dunno how to test it but I will find out so I can prevent this from happening anymore.
So far it's fixed. I bought an ignition switch from Autozone for 13 bux & no more problems. I drove the car more tonight than I did when the problem reared its ugly head the other day & she fired up every time, without having to pop the hood to jump the starter solenoid.
As Becky would put it... :tgif: Thank God It's Fixed!!
Glad to hear you've got it working! See you in Carlisle!
Dwayne :smile: