The Camaro Club (UK)

Hi all need a bit of advice. I have been having ongoing problems starting me 97 z28. Was advised heat soak could be a factor so bought new starter with heat shield and wrapped exhaust with heat wrap. However now its still doing it.
The battery when tested on my multimeter shows 12.60 volts. When you put the ignition on, the cars volt meter stays in the red band. When driving the ammeter shows its charging fine(over 14 volts). I also have a testmate which also shows when fired up its puting in over 14 volts(so alternator looks fine).

So to recap, battery seems charged and key in ignition. Turn the key and a click of the solinoid thats it. Battery also has a hydrometer on and shows green for charged. However the battery is a 60 amp should it be more?
Any help would be great thanks in advance Steve.

So is the problem starting, after you have been on a run? or from cold? Heat soak occurs after a run, hence the shield etc, but it won't make a difference from cold.

Have you tried jumping the car? - make sure to put the + lead from the other cars battery straight to the starter, see if that works - if it does, then could be something wrong with your battery. I assume the new starter came with a new solenoid?

Cheers,
Mark

_________________
'68 Camaro

Thanks for the reply.
Cars in garage and starting from cold. Turn ignition and click of solinoid. Turn key again same then might fire. Sometimes cannot start it at all. However put my starter/ booster on and fires like lightning. Then testmate shows charging all fine.
Yes the brand new the starter/solinoid only on for 100 miles.

So charging side seems fine.
New starter fitted
Battery seems to be fully charged(testmate shows 12 volts) but after a few days standing shows a drop.
Hope this makes sence to you.

If you had not said you got a new solenoid as well, then I you would have had the answer!

I had a problem with my Golf, the starter would turn over very slowly, but eventually fire, always thought it was a charging problem - we discovered that it was the solenoid, which had completely broken down where the wire from the alternator attached.
Once replaced, it was fine! - which isn't much help to you I know

It's a shame you did not post on here before you bought a new starter, as you may not have needed to get one! But at least you've eliminated that. If you put the battery on charge, and get it fully topped up, does it fire up the car then? If it does, then maybe your battery is at fault - how much of a drop do you see after it's been sitting?. One of your cables could have deteriorated, check the alternator/starter/battery main power cables, see if they are ok, and not corroded.

Cheers,
Mark

_________________
'68 Camaro

Sounds like battery, I have had a few in that show ok on the car but drop too many amps for a start. I had one in that the alarm was drawing too much over time and draining all the power.

_________________

Thanks lads, if you know what a testmate is its a led display that shows the charge of battery then when you start it shows what amps are used the when running what you charging .
Now with a fully charged battery it drops to reading under 12 volts after a couple of days.

Yesterday up north we had good weather for a change so went to get the car out. Turned the key and click, thought here we go again and tried again this time fired up. So drove 25 miles parked up went in a shop. Came out after 15 mins and click, tried again and same 3third time started and drove home.Parked on the drive left the car 10 mins the went to put her in the garage could not get her to start tried loads so got the booster and fired up straight away.
All the time driving ammeter showed over 14 volts. On the drive volt meter was at the top of the red band.

As Rocky has said, is sounds like the battery. Should not drop below 12V in a few days! unless you have a high current draw somewhere.

Lucky that you have a booster!

_________________
'68 Camaro

Get your battery checked by a decent supplier - it really sounds like it's actually collapsed ..

_________________
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Blown Chevy !!!

The alternator will keep you going once started but the battery hasnt got enough CCA left to give you enough juice.

_________________

yep battery for sure by everyones feedback. I started mine today, had been on mains charger for about 1/2 hour, started straight away. went to start it 5 mins later and needed to wait a bit more for the battery to top up again. I know the battery is knackered so sounds like the same thing is happening with yours. 60 amps should be fine for yours, i wouldn't go lower though if you can.

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").