68 Camaro starting problem
- Thread starter mikefamig
- Start date
pete_c
Guru
Friend here with the Firebird / starting issue when helping with the Triumph put his car back in storage a couple of weeks ago such that to deal with issue next year. He said it happened only once this past summer and initially thought it was his battery; after about 10 minutes though the car came back to life.
Around 1981 or so driving a '77 Trans Am (6.6/400) in sub zero Chicago early morning commute bumper to bumper traffic car started to over heat a bit, with much steam. Remember now keeping sandbags in the trunk to weigh it down a bit that Chicago winter. Worried that I wasn't going to get where I was going; pulled off the expressway (never shut off car) and hit the thermostat with a tire iron, heard a whoosh and temps went back down to normal. I did also blow the cam with a couple of sticky valves one other early morning sub zero start. Vehicle had maybe 30k on it (never really drove it much between '77-81). Thinking I was in a rush that morning. Fixed it, sold it and bought a Scirocco.
Geez; pulled out the snowblower this morning as we are supposed to get a bit of snow this weekend?
Around 1981 or so driving a '77 Trans Am (6.6/400) in sub zero Chicago early morning commute bumper to bumper traffic car started to over heat a bit, with much steam. Remember now keeping sandbags in the trunk to weigh it down a bit that Chicago winter. Worried that I wasn't going to get where I was going; pulled off the expressway (never shut off car) and hit the thermostat with a tire iron, heard a whoosh and temps went back down to normal. I did also blow the cam with a couple of sticky valves one other early morning sub zero start. Vehicle had maybe 30k on it (never really drove it much between '77-81). Thinking I was in a rush that morning. Fixed it, sold it and bought a Scirocco.
Geez; pulled out the snowblower this morning as we are supposed to get a bit of snow this weekend?
My experience has been just the opposite. The solenoids are famous for failing when hot and then working again when they cool off.
I have seen these installed with grease on the mechanical slide inside the solenoid switch but have always assembled them dry myself. The problem with grease is heat as you observed. It will get thick when cold and melt and drip out when hot. A little white lithium could be used but isn't necessary as the plunger is very loose fitting in it's cylinder. I do put grease on the starter gear that engages the flywheel but that gets current directly from the battery via a 6 gauge wire and has plenty of power.
I learned back in the 70's when I was working full time as a mechanic. My boss trained at GM and went on to open his own repair business. His specialty was auto electric and carburation and I learned a lot from him.
Mike.
I have seen these installed with grease on the mechanical slide inside the solenoid switch but have always assembled them dry myself. The problem with grease is heat as you observed. It will get thick when cold and melt and drip out when hot. A little white lithium could be used but isn't necessary as the plunger is very loose fitting in it's cylinder. I do put grease on the starter gear that engages the flywheel but that gets current directly from the battery via a 6 gauge wire and has plenty of power.
I learned back in the 70's when I was working full time as a mechanic. My boss trained at GM and went on to open his own repair business. His specialty was auto electric and carburation and I learned a lot from him.
Mike.
pete_c said:
Pete
This problem is widespread and I really do think that I got to the bottom of it...at least in my case. My Camaro was behaving like his Firebird and I let it go until one day it would not start at all.
I first advise your friend to try to get a lighter spring for the solenoid and if that works then just drive it until it fails again.
He may also save himself a lot of time and trouble by cleaning the connector that is located in the firewall just below the brake master cylinder. It is connected to the back of the fuse box by a 1/4" screw and not easy to get to. If he can read and understand the wiring diagram for the car he can identify which two wires are involved in the solenoid circuit. It is the red and purple larger gauge wires if I recall correctly.
Mike.
pete_c
Guru
Yah; he's been helping here a bit with my automobile. Will check out the starter in the spring maybe. He stores the car in a storage facility that is difficult to get to. He just had a bit of eye surgery...doing OK helping me last weekend.
Funny here I can read the wiring diagrams OK but have problems with the colors; one day asked one neighbor here to help me look for a particular wire. Here typically I do a best guess using the wiring diagram then use a VOM to validate the ends. You can eat dinner on his Firebird engine; its really clean. In the 1960's burned up the wiring cluster behind the instrument panel on the Spitfire replacing one guage and it was a bit of a learning experience.
Here what happened was that we had connected the Firebird battery to the Spitfire battery which trying to start the Spitfire. After leaving the Firebird idling in the storage location; he shut off the engine for about 10 minutes while leaving the battery jumper cables in place (we had started to get bugged by the exhaust fumes). The engine did get pretty warm as I could feel it a few feet away. It wouldn't start then; dead no clicks. He mentioned he had just installed a new battery. 10-15 minutes later it started like normal.
Funny here I can read the wiring diagrams OK but have problems with the colors; one day asked one neighbor here to help me look for a particular wire. Here typically I do a best guess using the wiring diagram then use a VOM to validate the ends. You can eat dinner on his Firebird engine; its really clean. In the 1960's burned up the wiring cluster behind the instrument panel on the Spitfire replacing one guage and it was a bit of a learning experience.
Here what happened was that we had connected the Firebird battery to the Spitfire battery which trying to start the Spitfire. After leaving the Firebird idling in the storage location; he shut off the engine for about 10 minutes while leaving the battery jumper cables in place (we had started to get bugged by the exhaust fumes). The engine did get pretty warm as I could feel it a few feet away. It wouldn't start then; dead no clicks. He mentioned he had just installed a new battery. 10-15 minutes later it started like normal.
