[ericstopanio]

Hey All!!

I got a 1969 Buick Skylark 350 2 barrel. Im having a starting issue. When I turn the key I hear the clucnk of the starter engaging but not spinnning. If I wear the battery down a little then it will crank slowly. If I charge up the battery, it wont crank.

Ive replaced the starter and battery today with the no affect. ANyone have any ideas where to start? I was going to start diagnosis tomorrow in the afternoon but stumbled on this site while surfing.



Thanks alot!

Rick

[EOD Guy]

I'd start with cleaning all the connections with a good wire brush thus ensuring good grounds and full voltage to the starter. Thought maybe it was the soleniod but since you changed the starter.....

[ericstopanio]

Thanks Guy!

I , too, thought it was the starter. I had bought the previous one from Autozone and I didnt like it. IT would engage a little slow but I dealt with it. Then the problem I had came up and I figured it was time to swap it out. Thanks for the diagram, Ill keep you posted!

[T-bucket23]

Check the ground connection on the block. Sounds like it is not healthy

[ericstopanio]

did some troubleshooting. Look like there is a short the circuit that runs between the field comm to the coil, which a lead runs down to the "I" terminal on the starter. It got dark so Ill finish up tomorrow

[ericstopanio]

bad coil!!! Crazy how it would make it not crank but if the voltage on the battery went down a little.....it would slowly crank. Trip to the Zone tomorrow

[EOD Guy]

Curious on this one..... makes no sense....

[ericstopanio]

I agree. But in the harness, the wire that goes to the positive side of the coil is split off and one wire goes to the starter solenoid. Man I was chasing a bad ground which i thought it would be. But it starts and runs now. Strange thing is last night I called my cousin who is 30 years older than me and was a Chrysler Mechanic for decades. I start telling him the problem I had and the symptom he yells out to me..COIL! I should have sved me the time and called him. But yeah, the coil is shorted out.

[EOD Guy]

Now here's something to think about...... the wire from the coil pos to the starter "I" terminal provides full 12v when the starter is engaged..... after it starts the "I" terminal goes dead and the coil recieves less than 12 volts from the run terminal on the ing switch (9 ish volts).

So what made the coil burn up? If the starter soleniod is shorted and the "I" terminal doesn't go dead after starting and provides 12v to the coil....... the new coil will burn up in short order.

The fact that the starter doen't work untill it drains the battery then it cranks slowly, then the coil burns up....... Make sure you have the purple wire on the "S" terminal and the wire from the coil on the "I" terminal. If they were reversed it might cause the symptoms you are describing...... I've never heard of the slow crank thing before...... so I'm very curious with your fix.

[ericstopanio]

well, Its running now and cranking normally.

what I did...I have no clue because it started to crank again. I got the FSM and it had a diagnostic tree with this symptom and the basically came down to a possible ground issue..check for short of ground in field coil or armature. I literally went through and started to unplug and plug charging/starting system connections. Even went as far as taking out cluster to check it. Whatever it was it isn't doing it anymore but I am going to keep my eye on it. Thanks for all you r help and I'm sorry I couldn't have some definite facts for you. After my move this spring its going to get overhauled and body work done. Its been in our family for over 20 years. When it was originally bought my father turned it into a beautiful show car. 7 years years ago he got diagnosed with cancer and work on it so he parked it in his barn where it laid dormant for a few years and the paint started cracking and well...you know the story. I use it as my every day car and this year its going to be brought back to its glory. Although, I would love to put a 455 in it, i think i will keep it stock. Thanks alot!