[WELLCRAFT]

NEED HELP GEORGE :
I HAVE A 66 PONTIAC (396) WHEN I USE THE CAR, THEN SHUT IT OFF, MOST OF THE TIME IT WON'T START. STARTER JUSTS CLICKS. MOST OF THE TIME I JUST USE A PORTABLE JUMPER, THEN IT RESTARTS LIKE NORMAL.
AT THIS POINT IT'S EMBARISSING TO USE.
IVE READ IT COULD BE STARTER SOLENOID ISSUE, BATTERY CABLES ?
I'M GOING TO MY REPAIR SHOP FOR THIS, BUT WANT TO ASSIST HIM OF WHAT TO POSSIBLY DO

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[GT182]

Not George, but.... it sounds like the battery is going south on you. Checking out the solenoid and battery cables will help too. Also check and see if the alternator is charging and if the regulator on the firewall is ok too. Good luck WC.

[george kujanski]

Good advice from GT182.

Quite often a situation where the solenoid clicks but no crank may indicate a low battery or bad battery/cable connections.

So go back to basics and check the connections. Once you get the car running, measure the battery voltage; it should be greater than 12.6 to indicate it's charging, normally it should be around 14.0 with the engine running.

Once that's all good, a bad battery may give you a restart shortly after running, but will internally discharge while the car is off and then not have enuf energy to restart. You may need to check the battery condition by replacing it with a "spare" or have it checked, to see if the symptoms are the same.

Finally, the solenoid may be bad (if all the other stuff is ok,). There's a copper disc inside the solenoid that actually connects the battery to the starter motor once the solenoid pulls in. If the disc is all arced up, etc. it may not be making a good connection.

George

[GT182]

Thanks George. Not sure if it was advice or not tho. I've been in the same situation and looking back on what I checked is what I recommended for WC. Funny how one little thing can screw up a good day. But when it could be a combination of things gone bad, it's the pits and makes you want to knock yer head against the wall cause you just can't finger it out on your own. Sometimes it's just that one little thing you don't think of, and someone else does, that makes all the difference in the world.

[WELLCRAFT]

THANKS THE CAR IS IN STORAGE FOR NOW, SOON AS THE WEATHER BREAKS I'LL CHECK THIS OUT.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP