!!!wont start!!!!!

[andrews85vette]

I have a 85 corvette that wont start, one day its running good, the next day it wont start.I took the battery in and it needed a small charge but overall it was good,replaced the starter and still wont turn over even dropped the new starter and had it tested.. when I turn the key all you hear is the sound of the starter kick out to the fly wheel but it just gets stuck there and doesnt turn it. I checked to see if turning the engine would help, so I turn the fly wheel pretty easy but got the same resuilt. Had a mechanic look over everything (waist of money) he found nothing. Is there anything I should look at next? Deploying in a two months so trying to get her going before then so any help will be greatly appreciated.

[1990-C4-41001]

Since you have a good battery and starter it sounds like you have a high resistance somewhere in either the B+ or ground path which is preventing sufficient current from reaching the starter.

Try this:

See if there is a voltage difference between the negative terminal on the battery and the engine block while attempting to crank the engine. There should be less than 0.5 volts showing when you use a digital VOM to measure it.

Put the positive lead from the VOM on the negative terminal of the battery and the negative lead from the meter on the engine block. Set the VOM to the next highest DC voltage it has above 12 volts and then drop it down to its lowest DC voltage as you crank if you don't see any indication on the higher scale. (Make sure you've got a clean spot on both the negative battery terminal and the block.) If you've got more than 0.5 volts showing while you're trying to crank, you need to check the connections at both the battery and where the negative cable attaches to the block. Make sure it's bare metal to bare metal on both ends. If that's all OK, replace the ground cable that runs from the battery to the engine/chassis. (Ideally, you shouldn't see any voltage at all while cranking. A voltage above 0.5 volts indicates a bad ground.)

If that's OK, do the same thing between the positive terminal on the battery and the starter where the positive lead attaches to it while cranking. Put the positive lead from the VOM on the positive battery terminal this time and the negative lead on the starter terminal. If you get more than 0.5 volts showing while trying to crank, and the connections are OK at both the battery and the starter, replace the positive cable.

Hope this helps!

Be safe on your deployment and thank you for your service.

John

[andrews85vette]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'll try it out right now and see what happens

[c4c5specialist]

HI there,
You did not note if it was an automatic or a stick????
Allthebest, c4c5

[andrews85vette]

Its a automatic