soon to be problem.... starter or switch?

[bassman]

about every week or so i get in and turn the key and nothing..... just dead.
I torn a few more times and it starts like normal and does not give me any problems for about a week or 2 then the same.

I am thinking original starter 235000 K it is dead spot on the starter, but befor I buy or rebuild I would like to know if the switch is a problem and if it is do i fix it and how?

thanks

s

[JoDan]

Does the dash come on when the key is turned to ON and not START or does it just completely do nothing when the key is ON. If so I would say it is the starter and if not I would clean the battery terminals and go from there.

[hotfordcat]

Mine used to do that. It was the POS. battery cable.

[scitzz]

Mine is doing that RIGHT NOW. TO be honest, I do not think it is in the starter itself. I have been thinking ignition switch or Neutral safety position switch on the clutch. I bought my festy brand spanking new in 1993, and the starter, original, just died a couple months ago with approx 700k miles on it. These starters are bulletproof. Mine didn't go into the scrap metal pile, I actually buried it with a tombstone. Pics on request, it was one of my last original parts, and that old of a friend deserved a decent burial....

What I am doing this evening is trying to loosen the two 10 mm screws on the neutral switch and move it forward a gnats butt, then tighten. This is because this happened to me a few years ago. It seems to be that when I push that little bit more with my left foot, the car starts without letting off the key.....

[WmWatt]

Spray WD-40 into the keyhole.

[1990new]

about every week or so i get in and turn the key and nothing..... just dead.
I torn a few more times and it starts like normal and does not give me any problems for about a week or 2 then the same.

I am thinking original starter 235000 K it is dead spot on the starter, but befor I buy or rebuild I would like to know if the switch is a problem and if it is do i fix it and how?

thanks

s

Junk Yard save has been doing that for at lleast the past 3 years, but never fails to start when I turn the key again. I've found that If I make sure the AC is turned off, it starts on the next turn.

[boydg1]

.... I just finished having the same problem. Every now and then I would get in and turn the key and "NOTHING". Push the clutch pedal down a couple of times and move the "Shifter" in and out of the gears then try it again. Most of the time it would then start but on occasion I would go through this procedure again and it would start as well. Each time I paid particular attention for a clue as to where the problem was originating from but "NOTHING". One day recently I noticed some corrosion around the "POSITIVE" post on the battery, my first clue. So I not only spit shinned both the POSITIVE and NEGATIVE terminals on the battery, I also spit shinned with a wire brush ALL TWO large connections including the TERMINALS on the starter. And the clip-on I used "CRC's Electrical cleaner" also wire bushed the hardware to get the RUST off . And recently a couple of weeks earlier spit shinned the TERMINALS and LUGS on the coil. This is the first time for-the-most-part in twenty three years this kind of cleaning has taken place. Reassembled everything and has NOT acted up since.
.

[1990new]

I have cleaned my battery terminal at least every year but it's been over 4 years since I cleaned the other connection ends. I'm going to do that tomorrow and see if it fixes the problem.

[batstiva]

I actually buried it with a tombstone. Pics on request, it was one of my last original parts, and that old of a friend deserved a decent burial....

Pics, I demand pics.

[Gomez]

Mine is doing that RIGHT NOW. TO be honest, I do not think it is in the starter itself. I have been thinking ignition switch or Neutral safety position switch on the clutch. I bought my festy brand spanking new in 1993, and the starter, original, just died a couple months ago with approx 700k miles on it. These starters are bulletproof. Mine didn't go into the scrap metal pile, I actually buried it with a tombstone. Pics on request, it was one of my last original parts, and that old of a friend deserved a decent burial....

What I am doing this evening is trying to loosen the two 10 mm screws on the neutral switch and move it forward a gnats butt, then tighten. This is because this happened to me a few years ago. It seems to be that when I push that little bit more with my left foot, the car starts without letting off the key.....

Just now reading this thread. Did you say 700,000 miles?

[neanderpaul]

Skeeter's Keeper, Walth and I were talking about festivas starters yesterday. I have had 24 festivas, walth 3 I think, I'm guessing Nate is at 6. Not a bad starter between us. That's 20 years for me with no starter failures. I've NEVER sold a starter in all of the festivas I parted out. One time I had a request for an automatic starter. I bet his problem wasn't the starter. I submit two theories. One is - the job of turning a b3 is so easy why would it fail. Two is - it's a festiva. Of course it won't break.

Report back bassman when you solve it.

[scitzz]

Just now reading this thread. Did you say 700,000 miles?

Approximately. I try to err on the less side. I have been through a few instrument clusters.

I disconnected the speedo cable when I bought the car with a 4 year/50,000 mile warranty. After 9 months, I had, a smidge over 49,000 miles. When I reconnected the speedo 3 years and three months later, it didn't work. I was still working the same hours at the same job then, so figured my mileage at least 50K a year. I was so used to not having a speedo, I didn't get around to replacing the cluster for another year or two. Since then, I have gone through one or two more. Right now, I put yet another one in to pass inspection over a high beam light.

I kept old girl off the road for a year in Savannah, a year in FL, and two years here in NC. Since 1993, approx 50K a year delivering Pizza's, right about 700K miles....but this last 2 years, I have gone from working the six days a week I have worked in forever, to four days a week. Accordingly, I am starting to track my mileage, and try to be more accurate from this point...

[neanderpaul]

Legend.