Thread: No Start

Well there isn't much to say, my little GT gave out in a parking lot today. Drove through maybe a 3 inch puddle earlier today that I hadn't given too much thought to.
So let me describe my problem. After driving through that puddle and parking my car for 10 minutes, I got back in her and she started up just fine. Drove her another 4 miles down the road and went to a store for 20 minutes. All's good as far as i thought until I got back in and no start whats so ever.

​Turning the key forward yielded one click, the sound of either a solenoid from the starter or a relay, but did not crank; It just dimmed all the interior lights and made the fuel gauge start jumping to random spots. After letting off from the start position back into the on position the lights did not come back on. No radio, no dash lights, as if the battery was dead. My initial thought was that the battery had died. So I got a friend to come by and give me a boost, unfortunately yielding the same result stated earlier. Took the battery to work to be tested and it read a solid 12.8 volts, load tested at 800 amps and passed the load test. So my concerns grew. They let me borrow the battery pack used to jump cars that is supposedly 900 amps. Got back to my car and same thing, one click dim lights and no crank. Tried hitting the starter housing with a big ass set of channel locks.

So my question is, after cleaning the battery terminals and getting the battery tested, and checking all under hood fuses, could i have possibly damaged my starter going through a puddle, even though it had started earlier or am i looking at an even bigger issue?

Maybe a ground off of the starter?

That's happened before so i'm not ruling it out, but would it cause the dimming condition?

Just checked the car, its not the ground connection from what i could see.

It sounds like a short somewhere or an alternator. When my alternator went out, it drove fine for a while (about 15-25 miles), but the more i drove, the darker everything got. Then it just died and would only give a click or two trying to start.

see if you can jump the starter. sounds like a dead starter kinda. they click in the dash when bad.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll get it looked at tomorrow after I tow her home tonight. I crawled up under to check the ground connection, I couldn't get a good look at the one on the back of the starter motor and the chassis grounds are fine, the ones on the solenoid look fine. Scotty, can you give me any more info on the clicking from the dash? Like it's happened before, but it would start up just fine after charging the battery.

with the newer cars you dont hear the starter click when its bad, something in the dash will click, dash blacks out when the key is turned to crank. thats normal too, you just dont notice it when it starts.


the old hammer hit to the body of the starter can some times make it work again for a short while.

and to jump the starter, you need to take a screw driver and bridge it from the 12 volt power cable on the starter to the little wire on the stud, the little stud is what tells the starter to crank when it gets power, aka when you turn the key to crank you should have power at the little wire. if you test for power and have power its the starter for sure.

Thanks Scotty, I'll get my whole charging system checked out. Had someone push her with a truck back home. As for diagnosing, I'm pulling the starter off first thing in the morning and walking to work.

Well I just crawled up under her and swapped out starters with a known good one. The same thing happened as mentioned before. Just one click and it doesn't try and turn over. Maybe it's the battery? Even though it tested good, when my friend took the jumper clips and touched them together no sparks flew. Anyone got some input?

Get the alternator tested.

I'm going to get the alternator tested tonight, but a mechanic I just spoke with may have provided a good point, and I'd like to share it with y'all for some ideas. Since I recently changed the lower and upper intake manifold gaskets, I may be having enough water seeping in to have locked the motor when I shut the car off, he also pointed out that the vac line on the fuel pressure regulator was broken, stating that excess gasoline may have entered and locked a cylinder(s) up.
Can anyone tell me if this is a possibility? He's a good mechanic, but figured that GPF has more cumulative experience.

Damn, all that testing and head scratching just for such a small problem. So when I drove through the puddle I mentioned before it was apparently enough water to soak the battery terminals and the wires going to them. I replaced the positive cable going to the fuse box from the battery and put in new terminals. The whole cable coming from the positive terminal was corroded.

rotted cable will do that. good to hear its all better now.

Here is a pic of the bad cables. The one on the left goes to the fuse box while the other goes to a ground if i'm not mistaken.