Cascade Crew

[Red Bird]

So my 91 lo3 firebird, has been acting weird. I went to get gas, filled up hopped in to start it turn the key, and nothing. i push started it to get it home. i pulled the starter and took it down to get tested. they said it was fine. Put the starter back in and car started right up. i went for a cruise and parked shut it off, turned back on fine. I took her down to wash her today. after i was done turned the key and nothing just a click. waited a while about 25 min started fine. went home shut it off and tried it again started fine. I am headed to packwood for an autocross tommorow and i just dont want it to do this to me while im in the grid. has anyone run into this problem? i checked all the connections to the starter and they all seem fine. Any ideas thx in advance

[rjmcgee]

Sounds like a heat soak problem with the starter, works fine cold but not when it gets hot. Probably time for a new one.

[Red Bird]

I was thinkin the same thing, i just didnt want to shell out the dough before i was sure that was the problem. i might try and make a heat sheild for it this evenin so i can get thru tommorow. are their any other parts that are not related to the starter besides the alternator and battery that would keep the motor from trying to turn over?

[aaron_sK]

Had the exact same problem with my IROC. I'm currently swapping to an LT1 starter to try and eliminate it.

As for other parts: starter solenoid, coil, coil wire, battery cables, starter connections. Lots of stuff to go wrong.

[BigDaddyVu]

most likely your a lil advanced on the dizz

[rjmcgee]

[BigDaddyVu]

well i had that problem for years and i thought it was due to my headers i found out it was my dizzy i replaced it in feburary after years of replacing the starter ever year and haven't had a problem since and i a am drag racing with no problems.

[Xophertony]

i had trouble starting when the dizzy on the six was going all wonky (losing/gaining 15+ degrees of timing at random). but the starter always worked, the engine was just "fighting" with it. it sounded labored. that being said, labored starting means your starter is working hard, and will wear down faster. all the more reason to check your timing often. if your car has 150K+ your dizzy could probably use a re-build.

this does not sound like a spark issue at all since the starter is failing to turn over. you said you heard a click, that is the starter solenoid clicking over. this means you are getting power that far. i would say almost 100% that your starter motor is where your problem is, just like Rodney said.

while you have the starter out check your connections and wires, if any are really close to hot things this can cause the connections to be weaker once hot. (hotter wires have higher resistance)

[BigDaddyVu]

if you had the timing retarded the motor wouldn't crank it will iginite the mix before the piston reaches TDC.

[Sellmanb]

If you mucked with the timing enough so that it made the motor run much hotter, then in theory the starter would get hotter, quicker because of the extra heat from the exhaust.

Therefore, the problem would start at the timing, and end with the distributor.... in theory.

I'm w/ Rod on this one though, get yourself a mini-starter and be done with it.

[Xophertony]

wouldn't it still sound like it was trying to crank though? ... he said he only hears a "click".

mine just got labored, so it must never have been before top dead center.

[iansane]

Heat soaked starter +1

[rjmcgee]

[Red Bird]

We cruised up to packwood, and it was raining and pretty cold all day. I didnt have any issues with the starter in the grid or on the way home. I picked up some header wrap and wrapped it around the ypipe next to the starter, and it hasnt happened since.

[Xophertony]

just a heat soak issue. good job getting it cleared up.