Re: Out driving. Shut off car. Dead. What is this?
Ok guys. I've got the answer for this as I lived with this exact problem with a 74 Nova SS for about 3 years.. On hot days after some driving time, when I would shut the car off after it set for a few minutes would not even crank.. I found it NOT to be the starter selonid. I also had both a 4 speed and an automatic in this same car and it happened with both, so that excludes the automatic theory.. My trick to fire up the car in this situation was I kept an old screw driver under the seat and when it would do this I'd have to get out and reach down through the header with the screw driver and connect the terminals directly, and it would crank every single time. Saved myself from being stranded many times with this trick. I have a few theorys, but never figured it out completely.. The problem is definitly worse if you have headers on it. One theory that I think could be close is that heat builds up resistance.. The hotter the wire gets the more resistance it will have. I believe the wire that connects to the selonoid (which also runs right beside the header for some length)when it gets too hot it won't let the current flow the whole way to the starter. Because if it was the selonoid or starter being too hot, the screw driver trick wouldn't work either. Give that a try next time it happens. When I moved on to a 70 Camaro, when I put that engine in I shrouded the crap out of the starter wires and I never had the "too hot" problem with that car. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/scholar.gif[/img]
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