jleidel

So, I *finally* have my 80' US back to the point where I'm ready to start/run it again. I had it buttoned up this afternoon and tried the first start... and the engine decided it doesn't want to turn over. All I get is a 'click click'. What *does* happen is the fuel pump runs, I get guages [the ones that worked before], I have fuel at the fuel rails and the battery is good.

What have I done in the midst of all the repairs?
- timing belt/water pump
- rebuilt tensioner
- new passenger cam tower gasket
- all new belts
- intake gaskets
- new green wire
- *lots of cleaning*
- rebuilt clutch slave cylinder
- all fluids [except brake]

Everything seems to be plugged in correctly. I've cleaned all the terminals I know of to clean [including the starter].

My question to the group is, next steps? I'm curious what the checklist is beyond this point.

A few more questions...
- will the green wire prevent the starter from turning over? [ i can easily pull apart the distributer and check the connection under the cap]
- can i jumper the start bridge to try and bypass an issue there?

..sorry for the myriad of questions...

James Bailey

See if the engine will turn with a socket on the front crank bolt....if so try jumping the starter from the big lead on the starter to the small one on the solenoid.

jleidel

The motor definitely turns over. Turned it over four or so times. Will try the solenoid jump here in a minute.

jleidel

are you referring to the ignition solenoid?

Mrmerlin

have you charged the battery since all of this work was done??
it sounds like a low voltage

jleidel

Yep. I trickle charged it yesterday. Quick check with the volt meter and it reads 12.40 volts.

Alan

12.4 volts is not good - its bad.

Charge with a high power charger for a few hours... if it doesn't read over 12.7v after charging replace the battery - or you could just take it to a store to get it load checked.

Sounds like your battery is toast..

Alan

jleidel

Thanks Alan. Its on the charger now. Curious though, wouldn't the starter motor attempt to turn over at 12.4 volts? Worst comes to it, its less than a year old, so it should still be under warranty.

Alan

If the steady state voltage is 12.4 volts - the battery has low charge (or/or high internal resistance).

As soon as you engage the starter via the relay - the voltage will drop to probably (this is a guess) 6-7v - this is insufficient to maintain the relay switched. What you hear is the relay engaging at 12.4v - then the current draw causes the voltage to collapse - so the relay drops out... the voltage climbs back up and the relay re-engages - then dops out again etc etc.

Whenever you hear a bunch of clicking and dash lights dimming (pulsing) when trying and failing to crank - it almost always means the battery is too discharged or has a high internal resistance problem or dead cells.

Alan

jleidel

Ack... sorry for the dumb question. I'll also be sure to clean the terminals and ground to ensure and proper connection.

Alan

Oh I don't know... I'd say the vast majority of folks don't understand these failure mechanisms of batteries (and the systems they drive) and like the operating parameters of incandescent bulbs - these are not intuitively obvious topics - they only SEEM to be simple....

Alan

jleidel

ITS ALIVE!!!! MUAHAHAHA!
Thanks Alan! If you make it out to OCIC, track down the short fat bald Texan and I'll buy you a beer [or two or three]. Figured out what the deal was. My trickle charger has an automatic cutout circuit set to 12.5V. I took it up to the auto parts store and they quick charged it to 12.7. Fired right up.

Next job... adjust timing...