thought it was the starter but after putting in a new one… still no start. battery works, new spark plugs, new distributor cap and the car doesnt even crank when i turn the key. the only way to start it would be a push-start.
any ideas on what the problem could be?
EDIT: and also, the speedometer stays at 0mph until i go about 20mph… ideas?
i would look into the ignition switch, its a fairly common issue. theres a few writeups on here about it
try the ignitor or dist. coil
if the igniter or coil went bad it would still try and turn over, he says the starter wont turn. so its somewhere between the ignition switch and the starter and he replaced the starter already.
Power to the starter motor is always there, you can test it by hooking a wire to the 12mm nut under the cover and shorting it for a sec to ground. Next I’d take a jumper from the pos batt term and strike it against the starter bayonet blade and see if it turns over via the starter w/ingition in run position. PLEASE make sure its in park or neutral. If the starter won’t turn over I’d go with checking the fuses by the air cleaner.If the starter turns and the engine fires, the switch is bad. Electrical forum covers this part extensively.
Mine did the same thing… http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166127
It turned out to be my ignition module (ignitor) which failed at 116k~ miles.
I ended up buying a complete new distributer from the highly rated “Distributer King”. http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/flying_pat/
My car has been running ever since.
Rocket: Did your engine not even attempt to turn over when you had this problem?
I am having a starting problem, I thought I had fixed it with a new battery. Was starting consistently, and with no delay for about 2 weeks. No I’m back to no starts usually (meaning the starter/engine won’t even TRY to turn over… I dash lights come on, i can hear the fuel or oil pump come on and then click off, and after I hold the key in the START position for too long, the check engine light comes on and stays on). And when it does start, it doesn’t even turn over and start until I’ve been holding the key in the Start position for 5-15 seconds. It particularly happens on cold starts… almost never on hot starts, or even warm starts where it has ran, and than sat for 6 hours. The problem also doesn’t seem to occur as often in warm weather.
I had read about the ignition switch going bad, but does it make sense that it’s a bad switch if it will ALWAYS start when I can jump it from another car? To me that would suggest the switch is fine.
I just tried to start it for the first time since Saturday night, it is 25F out, tried atleast 15 times over 20 minutes, no starter turning whatsoever. Battery is reading 12.2volts, which I would think is enough to start. Right?
Can anyone help me out here? I am absolutely frustrated at my wit’s end with this problem… and I don’t see how a mechanic would be able to diagnose the problem since I probably wouldn’t be able to replicate the problem after the car’s been running in order to take it to a garage.
Read this I am sure that It will answer you question look to the interlock on the clutch first there is a rubber stop that holds the interlock in when the clutch is depressed it get old and breaks off.
RX3: if that was broken then why would getting a jump from another car always get my car to turn over and therefore start? something like a bad switch wouldn’t be rendered functional by virtue of a jump start right?
weird…
my friends teg starts up. however before that he had to get it towed cuz it wouldn’t start up. he changed the ignitor and other things i believe and after that it blew his fuses.
he puts in a better one and it starts and runs. however today while i followed him from the back with my teg the car stalls. revs drop to 0 and when he steps on the gas it won’t let it go. we’re stumped. no clue whatsoever… what could this be?:dozing:
I’ll suggest you look over the engine bay grounds. Hasn’t been mentioned yet but IIRC, at least three grounds feed the engine itself.:read:
I had just thought of the grounds… thinking maybe by hooking up to another car when I jump, I am getting a better ground. Would that make any sense? The only thing there is that it still starts sometimes w/o a jump, especially in warm weather like i said, or when it has ran in the past 4-6 hours.
Where are the grounds I might want to check? I am really not good with understanding the wiring diagrams and lingo in cars.
You need to look at the battery cables and when you do your checks with the volt meter check the voltage at the cables not the battery posts.
On the top of the starter there are two post a big and a small one. If you short one to the other the car should turn over. (It will make a spark when you do this) It will start if the key is turned on it will turn the motor over even if the key is off so make sure the car is not in gear. The car will run over you if you do not take care and put in neutral. If this makes it start every time then it is not the starter or a ground or a battery problem. You need to look at the interlocks or the ignition switch. Let me know what you find.
I will send you a email
Ther’s probably more than these. 
One from the valve cover to radiator brace. One from the thermostat housing. And one from the battery to the radiator brace and on to the transmission ground bracket. If you do this ground to the bracket, make sure you remove the brkt and clean the brkt/trans interface. Also, while you’re down there, check that the starter itself is tight and secure to the trans because that’s how the starter is grounded and check the connections. You know that the key activation for the starter is only a simple bayonet clip. This clip can be installed in its recepticle but not on the blade, causing intermittant connections.:whew:
did i mention he has a ground kit? could it be that thats shorting the engine out for the power?
If you have a short you will have heat and smoke. Ease to find just look for the smoke and short will be right where the wire stops burning. On the other hand if you have an open it is hard to find nothing happen. That is most likey what he has an open circuit.
Ok this is going to sound crazy but I was having the same problem. new battery and everything and the car wouldn’t start. But when you push start it, it would start everytime. Well long story short. I was going to buy a new starter but I decided after trying to get it going for a hour to try a key I had cut for it a couple years ago. And would you believe it, it started and it has started everytime since with the new key. There is also a significant difference in the key its harder to put in the ignition and its not as rounded as my old one. So far it hasn’t failed me.
my friends car is running good now.
it happened to be the o2 sensor wire touching the exaust manifold.
gotta check those wires! within this he changed MFR and the distrubutor parts
Ignition Switch Not Sure Where to Start
Wrong Window