At the beginning of the summer,my 58 Buick Super 364 cid nail head started acting up. After engine was hot and running and I pulled into gas station and shut off engine, it would not restart. At this point,not all the time, now, always does it. I could jumper the solenoid(after replacing)and it would start. After sitting for forever, it would then have cooled down and restart. After engine was hot, there was no voltage at starting relay. Jumpered accelerator switch and neutral safety switch(to eliminate them) and nothing at start relay until cool down , then with ign. sw. on, there was 12 volts at relay and it starts. Any ideas??? Still working to get car pics from my comp to this site.
don't think so as it makes no attempt to start. Doesn't turn over, start relay doesn't operate , no solenoid click etc.
Start backtracking from relay to battery. Look for bad connections,cables,grounds. Have battery load checked. Cables can be bad internally from corrosion.
could possibly be the switch on the carb gone bad if yours still has the accelerator pedal to the floor to start set up.
I believe the start relay works with the generator. With the engine off, the generator looks like a ground when looking at the armature terminal. Try grounding the armature terminal (when engine is hot and the no start condition) and see if it cranks. If it does then the generator might be your problem.
I once had a battery that caused the same thing. A good auto electric guy said my battery was shorting internally when it got hot and warped the plates. I put in a new battery and the problem disappeared.
sounds like corrosion on the battery ground, or in the cable. same thing happened to my old Chrysler. a new ground cable solved my problem. It was grounded to the exhaust manifold.
Found the culprit!!!!!! The wire from the coil windings to the external post on the start relay was broken/barely touching. When engine compartment heated up; wire contact opened up. When things cooled down, everything was OK. I soldered the coil winding wire to the post inside the relay where it was supposed to go. Wife and I took the old girl to a cruise in Georgetown,De tonight and we actually made it home without a problem. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it" Until the next time something goes wrong. Thanks to all for your ideas. d2 willys suggestion about Generator was next. I already tried the grounded armature test but was going to tear apart the gen and replace or clean brushes.
Glad to hear it was where I thought it was. And if you needed to ground the armature, you could disconnect from generator and just ground the wire. That would not harm the generator. I have a 58 Roadmaster 75 and I love the way the car drives. That funky accelerator start switch is something, till I found out my 55 Nash Rambler (just got it a couple of months ago) starts by pulling up on the shift lever for the hydramatic. Enjoy your ride!
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