[DEFUNCT] The College-Budget P5

Well, a winter storm blew through Wednesday, and my car hasn't been able to start since. Normally, I'd be upset, but I guess this is business as usual (rolleyes)

lol that was a quick attitude adjustment. wait til it turns into wanting to set it on fire! (pissed)
 
... It's gotta be a bad fuse, the ignition switch, or the starter itself at this point.

Sometimes the big solenoid on the starter motor gets old and starts to stick (not engage).
Cold weather can make it worse.

To help diagnose it, get someone to hold the key to start then give the starter a good smack with something.

If it kicks in and starts cranking, you've found your problem.

 
I just checked fuse 14...no dice. It's still fine.

I want to try knocking on the starter, but I can't get to it safely. As it sits, there's not enough ground clearance for me to get under. It's also parked on a hill, which is turbo-sketchy when you try to jack up your car. And even then, jacking up one quarter section of my car at a time (thanks to no real middle jacking point) is even more dangerous, since my stiffened chassis lifts up the rear wheels right along with it.

Quite the ordeal! Even now that all the snow melted and the temperatures got nice again, I cannot start.

I'll keep trying various ideaa out, and I'm going to find some way to test that starter...
 
You can check for voltage at the solenoid/starter but even that sounds difficult and dangerous to do.
 
My friends boat was having a hard time starting so we took the cover off the engine, he held the key and I smacked the solenoid with a rock and it started.
But it would always start once the engine was warmed up.
The grease inside solenoid would get old and sticky and the warmth of the engine would warm it up just enough to let the solenoid move.

So I'm thinking, you could try holding the key in start position and if it is just a sticky solenoid, the heat generated by the coils in it might be enough to warm it up a bit to get it going.
The current should still travel through the solenoid just not the starter if the solenoid is seized.

You're not going to drain the battery, just hopefully warmup the solenoid.

The coils in all the other solenoids on the car draw about 20 mA but the one on the starter is huge andmaydraw about an amp. (they don't give the current draw of the solenoid in the book)

It's easy to try and you don't have to crawl under your car.
If it works, you won't need a tow truck.

You mentioned you're on a hill.
What about a bump start.
I've done it in forward and reverse.

(it's not good for the pre-cat but you've got a header anyway right?)

 
Do you have a jack and access to these jacking points ??

I have to lift from there, my frame rails are all rotted and crunched in.



The front one is about 1 1/2' underneath and about 3" towards the drivers side.

It's a 3" round bump that fits nicely into the lifting point of the jack.
 
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I jacked up the car lightly so that both wheels were still touching the ground. I reached underneath with a ratchet, banged on the starter a little, and it wouldn't start.

Come to think of it, last time I started the car, it cranked just a little bit, made that "wind up toy" sound I've described in the past (the little plastic whine you hear from the gears), and just quit, never to crank to date. That gear noise sounded like it came from the instrument panel.

Does the ignition switch have gears in it? I checked the fuse for it, and it seems okay. I also swear that my battery terminals aren't filthy.

Jeez...it's been about a week since my car stopped cranking. As good as the beater van's 3.5L V6 is, it doesn't give me the same joy as my P5. 20190415_125505.jpg
 
Come to think of it, last time I started the car, it cranked just a little bit, made that "wind up toy" sound...



If the solenoid is stuck, the drive pinion doesn't lift and engage the flywheel and the armature just spins making a wizzing sound.
It's not as loud because it's not cranking the engine.

Your brushes may have been on their last straw and the high rpms may have finished them.

I'm going to remove my starter and take it apart but it might take a while.

I've got some rust to deal with.

 
Damn. Well, I gotta find a way to push the car up the hill and in the driveway now lol...it's pretty convincing that it's the starter.

Thanks for the info. Time to fix the car for the Nth time!
 
You replace the starter and solenoid together, theyre a unit nowadays.

Its located on the transmission kinda near/under the intake manifold
 
The guys in Europe rebuild their starters and alternators.
They buy rebuild kits.
 
Alright, one plan is on the table lol:

A neighbor down the street has a very flat and level surface in front of his house, so if I can't roll start my car while coasting in reverse down the hill, I'll park there to fix up my car!

It's mostly a joke at this point, but man I want to fix my car already. At least, I've found a very detailed video about diagnosing the ignition system. Probably going to go through those steps I left out while checking all things electrical (clutch starter switch), a relay within the engine bay fusebox, starter singal fuse (#12 in engine bay fuse box).

Just gotta jab my multimeter in some places to check for continuity.
 
Yo riot, seems you made someone's insta lol

Hey that's pretty cool :^)

Only other person that appreciates this car is someone I don't know, and most likely won't meet lol. That's fate for you. There's actually a P5 guy in this forum that lives in the same city as me, perhaps about 10 miles south or so, but he never responded to my PM last year. Lonely driver gang represent, I guess
 
Haha 323 has been tryna go wash cars for a minute but the sedan gets the work auto wash and nothing more.

Crazy tho! I lived in Colorado Springs back in like 1998-2000. Of course I was 3-5 but still lmao
 
No kidding? Man, if you ever visit this place, you'd be surprised at how much has changed. Population exploded, every other road's been rebuilt and expanded, and the highway's getting four lanes. Cool in some ways, but sucks for commute times and the car scene. All these new guys more or less broke up the otherwise familial setting and started fights.
Minor Update:​

I managed to start the car yesterday, but only by bump-starting it in reverse. First time I've ever done that, and it made me nervous lol. Upon forcing it to start, the belts started slipping and squealing loudly. After driving around the block for a bit. When I shut it off, it wouldn't start back up, so I'm confident that it's the starter.

Once I buy the starter, I think I'll invest in some belts too.
 
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