click, no start 91 SBC chev v8

[columnshift]

1991 chevy caprice classic 5.0L v8, ~240k miles

Turn key, and a solid and consistent click (not weak) but no start... battery seems good (lights come on) Never done this before/has always started including yesterday. I'll try again later and tomorrow to see if it's intermittent but even if so obviously something on its way out.

My obvious thoughts being starter motor, starter solenoid, or maybe there's a starter relay...

Middle of winter and being medically disabled at the moment my ability to do much is limited, but if there's an easy way to get it started to at least get somewhere like to a friends to fix that's better than a tow charge.

If I were to try to fix or test things myself it'd have to be really accessible and easy, medically i'm not up for much.

 

[Chris142]

If it's clicking you can rule out the ign switch and neutral safety switch. That leaves the positive and negative cables,connections or the battery.

 

[mk378]

Do the lights stay on while trying to start? That means the battery is holding up, though there could still be a problem with the power cable to the starter or the ground cable to the engine.

Does the click come from the starter? Can the engine be turned by hand (with the key off of course)?

 

[supton]

Try hitting it with a hammer. The starter that is. Assuming you can find someone who can do that for you?

Id wiggle the cables and make sure not loose. Check battery voltage too.

 

[simple_gifts]

Try hitting it with a hammer. The starter that is. Assuming you can find someone who can do that for you?

Id wiggle the cables and make sure not loose. Check battery voltage too.

I was able to do that with a broom handle from the top (engine compartment with hood up) on my 87 caprice; worth a look

 

[Escape08]

I've got a click and no start on my Jag 4 months ago and the culprit was dead battery. Bought a new one and it started right up.

 

[LDM]

Check the battery, cables, and then the starter. If the battery is too low or the cables are corroded bad enough, it won't be enough to make the starter work. If those are good, probably the starter itself. The solenoids do fail in them, had it happen on my 95 Tahoe when I still had it. Starter lasted for 220K miles before finally dying.

 

[brianl703]

Turn key, and a solid and consistent click (not weak) but no start... battery seems good (lights come on)

A repetitive click is almost ALWAYS a battery (could be a bad/corroded cable too).. Here's what's happening:

1)Battery has enough voltage to engage solenoid.
2)Solenoid is engaged. CLICK
3)Starter starts pulling massive current.
4)Battery voltage drops significantly because it's bad or discharged, or the clamp/cable has higher resistance due to corrosion or other damage.
5)Solenoid disengages due to voltage drop. CLICK
6)Wash, rinse, repeat. Goto step 1.

 

[bullwinkle]

Do your headlights go out when you try to start it, & then come back on after the start failure? Could be those [CENSORED] stud mount battery terminals!

 

[columnshift]

A repetitive click is almost ALWAYS a battery (could be a bad/corroded cable too).. Here's what's happening:

Well its' not a repeating click, it was just a single click... a single solid click... but no starter action.

FWIW I went out just now turned the key and it started. But I don't consider that to be done - it started just fine, plenty of battery, but now I can't trust it - something intermittent crapped out and before I can trust it i'll want to narrow down what or rule out what it isnt.

I know of the 'whack the starter' trick, but if I didn't even get around to whacking it - it just started when an hour ago it was not. Does that mean my starter is probably fine and it's down to solenoid/relay issues..?

 

[bullwinkle]

If it goes “click” & everything’s dead, it’s a bad connection/cable/battery. If it goes “click” over & over & everything stays on & full voltage/brightness, it’s a starter/solenoid issue. My money is on stud battery terminals…

 

[columnshift]

If it goes “click” & everything’s dead, it’s a bad connection/cable/battery. If it goes “click” over & over & everything stays on & full voltage/brightness, it’s a starter/solenoid issue. My money is on stud battery terminals…

I'll doublecheck battery terminals... i'll have to catch it in the intermittent act again though, people don't have to keep posting for now... need to narrow down this test first whether it takes a day or a week

 

[Soft Cars]

The clicking noise, if I'm not mistaken, is the starter solenoid engaging by moving the Bendix gear inline with the flywheel gear.

 

[bullwinkle]

The clicking noise, if I'm not mistaken, is the starter solenoid engaging by moving the Bendix gear inline with the flywheel gear.

Sometimes you’ll get enough power to throw the solenoid, but not enough to spin the starter. Usually accompanied by burning at the battery connection(s). My old ’94 Suburban needed a terminal spun a little on a fairly consistent basis!

 

[wtd]

I'll doublecheck battery terminals... i'll have to catch it in the intermittent act again though, people don't have to keep posting for now... need to narrow down this test first whether it takes a day or a week

If you have a multimeter you can voltage drop test all of the wires and cables going to the solenoid and starter. This will tell you if you are losing voltage and have resistance in the circuits. Do both positive and negative sides of the circuit. Do a google search if you don't know how to do a voltage drop test.

 

[Soft Cars]

Sometimes you’ll get enough power to throw the solenoid, but not enough to spin the starter.

That's exactly what I was thinking. What I would do is measure the voltage across the battery terminals with the key off first, and then while trying to crank.

 

[Malo83]

Dead battery.

 

[nomas]

Two years ago I had to smack the starter on my riding mower . It cranked and has never failed to crank since then . Stuff happens .

 

[columnshift]

Dead battery.

It's definately a working battery, i've tried to start it 3 times since then without touching a thing and it started strong each time. Whatever happened was intermittent.

Now i'm trying to catch it in the intermittent whatever to try to narrow down what it is/was - my first guess is to rule out battery terminals whenever it next happens so i just put a battery wrench in the car. I just hope I don't get stranded during the next konkout.

If that's a no go i'll do the voltage drop test but right now it's back to starting strong. I just still don't trust it.

 

[paulo57509]

I used to do this with GM solenoids that had contact issues.

I don't know if this works on the newer style solenoids. These days it's better to just replace the entire unit.