[Lifetime Goat]

I had an original style GM starter in my car which could not stand the heat of the ceramic coated RAIII exhaust manifolds so I switched to a mini starter and there are times when all I will get is a click despite the motor not being hot and the battery is fully charged. Any chance this could be caused by a faulty ignition switch?

[25stevem]

If your hearing a click at the motor that means that the ing switch at the base of the steering column is doing it’s needed job and engaging the solenoid on the starter.

If it’s then not spinning the motor over it’s due to poor electrical connections at the battery or at the starter, assuming your battery is truly good.

One easy way to know what’s going on is to have a person help you.

Turn the head lights on when you go to crank the motor and the light should very noticeably dim.

If they do not then you have poor connections or a bum new starter, once again assuming that the battery is good.

Note that just because it’s showing a good charge voltage wise does not mean it’s good.

I would be inclined to take the battery to a auto parts store and get it load tested if you have not done such yet.

[george kujanski]

Sometimes it's a bad starter solenoid, other times it might be a poor battery connection, i.e. a good enuf connection when the lights work, etc. but when the starter demands hundreds of amps, a bad battery connection shows up.

george

[Lifetime Goat]

I checked connections and the issue appears to be random. I even turn the motor by hand to move the flywheel and there is no difference. Guess I will just try another starter.

[25stevem]

Once you have it out and before you fully condem and return it use your jumper cables to confirm that it will not spin.

[tjs72lemans]

On an off tangency, did you do anything else while you were under there. Reason I ask is, last fall I was adjusting my shifter linkage and unknowingly, messed up my neutral safety switch adjustment. I went to start and heard a click. Thinking it was starter (which is new), gave it a tap with hammer. It started. Then it didn't. Once I realized my problem and adjusted, I've been good.

[Radman]

Another possibility is resistance in the wiring harness. I had on and off start issues until I replaced the wiring harness. Everything is good after that. Also, I found some burnt wires in the old harness when removing it. Just a test, run a hot wire into a pushbutton switch then out to the starter solenoid. Try it when the normal start doesn't work.

[25stevem]

If indeed the click the op hears is the sound of the starter solenoid closing on the starter then his engine wiring harness has zip to do with his no crank condition.

[Shiny]

Unless there are multiple clicks consistent with an intermittent contact??

Helper with a voltmeter might answer the "power to the solenoid" question.

[Sirrotica]

What do you have to do to get the car to start after one of these episodes? I can usually narrow a no start down, if I know what remedies the condition.

Without that info, you're pretty much guessing, because here are at least a dozen scenarios to cause the condition you asked about. Also what car are we asking about, certain Pontiacs are more prone to certain defects in their electrical systems.

I.E. 69-72 A bodies with locking columns are prone to bad contacts in the ignition switch, that has always been a weak point in those cars, but usually they will crank, and not have any juice to the ignition system when the switch decides to go south.

More information would be pertinent to a more accurate diagnosis.

[Greg Reid]

I chased the exact same problem with my mini starter for quite a while. I rigged up a jumper with a push button so that I could activate the starter from under the car and see what was happening and also check the voltage.
What I found is that the mini starter behaves differently in a low voltage situation. You just get one click instead of the tap-tap-tap that you get with the Delco solenoid.
Long story short, I found that my voltage was dropping to about 5 volts at the 'S' terminal on the starter. It needs 9 or 10 volts to get enough torque to force the pinion gear into the flywheel teeth. I had 11 volts at the firewall.
I replaced the original purple wire from the ignition switch and it's been good ever since. Bottom line is, check the voltage at the starter when the key is being turned. Of course, this has to be done when the problem is actually present. If yours is like mine was, it's intermittent.. you'll have 10 or 11 volts when it's working properly but much less when it clicks.

[Half-Inch Stud]

The Solenoids are "funny, like a clown" for voltage drop from:

GND Path: Painted Starter Mount, and crap wire between Batt GND and Block.
Crappy-loose connections thru Neutral Safety switch, ING connector tension, and FuseBlock contact loose feel (and Firewall bolt being loose).

The Solenoid might just wake up after runing thee tings to ground.