Electrical Gremlin

[47Nomad]

I didn’t join this forum to ask for help, but here I am, first rattle out of the box.

Just before I joined this forum, I had been plagued by an electrical gremlin. Got in the car, put the key in the ignition, turned the key to “on”. Had horn, lights, etc., but when I twisted the key to start -nothing. And, at the time, I had already replaced the starter motor, in the not too distant past

Now, the gremlin first made itself known a year ago, and in time I’ve replaced the igniter, the voltage regulator (twice, long story), and the alternator. However, my Toy still, randomly, and with no pattern, sometimes with weeks in between, won’t start -just as outlined above. (However, it will rolling start, if it can get enough momentum going to turn the engine around a few times, after I put the clutch in and have the key in the ignition turned to "on"..)

In the belief that it was the ignition switch, which my City mechanic said he couldn’t find at a parts house, I last had an automotive electrical shop try to duplicate the problem, but they couldn’t find anything. So, I had them wire in a separate circuit direct to the starter, with a “starter” button on the dash.

With my work-around of the ignition switch, I thought I was home free. All I would need to do, I thought, was just make sure the key was turned to “on” and, if the ignition switch failed, I thought all I had to do was hold the new starter button in, and she would crank. (But the key has to be turned to on: no key, no power –really,, so not igniter, and no spark.)

But, this morning, at the start of a trip that will take me to Sparks, Nevada, Wednesday morning (11/6) , the gremlin struck again.

Neither the stock ignition switch, nor my snazzy new button, worked. Twisted the key in the ignition – nothing. Pushed the starter button –nothing. And just as quickly, I twisted the key again and, boom, starter engaged, and I drove away.

Now, I’m in a different vehicle, still heading for Sparks, and wondering what to do next. Certainly will replace the starter and have the tech check around in there, but…

Any thoughts?

Yours, 47 Nomad

[keith]

I'd be looking at the clutch safety switch first, but I did have a similar problem and it turned out to be the small wire to the starter. Its a push on terminal, blade type and the blade inside the terminal at the end of the wire was pushed back up into the terminal as the terminal was pushed onto the blade on the starter. You can't see it when it happens but the contact is minimal and chages in temperature can affect whether you start or don't start.

I cut the old terminal off the wire and crimped on a new one.

[dlb]

i agree about looking at the clutch safety switch. try by-passing it or clean the contacts in the switch.

[marlinh]

If you have bypassed the ignition switch, it must be the starter or battery terminals.

[Petros]

WElcome to the fourm,

the '84s do not have a clutch start safety switch, they came in '85 and newer. sounds like a bad contact.

That sounds like bad batter terminals, it allows it to corrode and lower amp draws work, but the higher demand draw from starter causes an arch and than no contact. The contact in the starter solenoid can behave this way, but it will not make you loose batter power to everything else. check the battery terminals.

you need to clean your battery contacts, perhaps even replace the terminals if they are old and corroded. Also, clean the ground on both the neg side of the battery (both ends) and on the engine ground strap. there is a ground strap near the starter that goes to the frame next to cross member diagonal brace mount, make sure it is present and both ends clean and make solid contact.

If that does not do it, clean the fuel box with eletrical parts cleaner, look for signs of arching around the fuel panel and the starter relay box (under the hood). possible it is the starter relay, but again that is not likely to cause the electrical power to everything else to stop, morel likely somewhere in the electrical power supply.

good luck.

[47Nomad]

Thanks Petros for the heads-up on the clutch safety switch.

As for the contacts, at least at the battery end, know that they're sparkling bright. When this first surfaced, on a road trip from SF <-> NYC, and I got left standing in Grand Junction, CO, and then Lovelock, NV, sane day, the battery connections were the first things replaced, before all the others.

That said, should be getting my Toy to a mechanic to replace the starter and to check around in there (probably again, since I expect that they did that already). I also like the other commenter's heads-up about the contacts -I'll have those replaced too.

Here's hoping the starter replacement puts the gremlin down.

There's nothing like being miles away from home, and unable to pull away.

Yours, 47Nomad

[dlb]

i just remembered i had a similar occasional no-start situation on a tercel i fixed up. i would wiggle the battery cables and then the thing would start without any problems. so i pulled the sheath back on the negative battery cable and found it was very corroded. i replaced the cable and it was good after that.