I was driving on Saturday when I heard a pretty loud banging noise coming from under the floorboard. I pulled over and shut the engine off. When I tried to start it, I had nothing. Starter wouldn't even turn. A mechanic pulled over and ***isted me. I ended up jumping the positive terminal hub to the connector on the starter relay which feeds the solenoid and the starter worked again. What I'm trying to determine is what could have happened. To me it seems that the starter must have been engaging while I was driving, hence the sound. Worked OK for my drive to the show then back. After I stopped for gas and got back home, I could hear it starting to do it again, just not as loudly. Do you think that it must've been the relay since it took jumping it to get the starter to work again? Is it possible for the relay to re-engage while it's running or could it possibly have been stuck since I started the car and I just didn't notice it until I hit the highway? Is it OK to byp*** the relay or would that cause another issue? This is a 1958 Buick. The way I have it wired currently is the momentary switch is between the neutral safety and the starter relay. There used to be a switch at the carb which was engaged by pushing your foot on the gas but I just connected those together in lieu of using the push ****on switch because it tended to flood the carb on a hard start. I'm pretty certain it is not the push ****on. Thanks for any advice. ~Joe G.
Had something similar happen to me once. Bendex gear was not retracting once the engine turned over and I released the key. Bought a shim kit for the starter and played with the shims until the issue went away.
So it was just a bad starter? What causes that to happen? Does the fact that I had to jump the relay eliminate that as a possibility? I'm wondering if a poorly mounted starter might cause that.
No......the started was fine....just had to shim the starter so the flywheel and starter where at the correct pitch from each other.
You're jumping to conclusions, Start with basic trouble shooting and eliminating possible issues as the culprit. Check your relay for proper inputs and out put. If input is correct and out put is wrong then the relay is likely bad. Then decide (if needed) how or why the relay went south. If the starter was again engaging randomly while running, something was telling the starter to do that.
Yes, but more to it than that. since the relay is an electromagnetic switch you need to make sure the electromagnetic system is working and that it is in fact completing the circuit operate the device- starter in your case. there's 4 or 5 posts/pins on a relay. You need voltage and ground to activate the coil within the relay. One of these is the trigger that should have control over the relay to make it work. Either one, the voltage or the ground can be used to trigger the relay. The other two are power in from battery source and when activated - power out to device.
I seem to be confusing some of the guys at the local parts stores when I explain the starter relay is not the solenoid. They say it is one in the same, but on my car they are separate. I'd just like to replace the old one to eliminate it as a factor.m Why so much confusion? It's even difficult to find one on the internet.
It could be just a simple bare wire...worn off insulation...bare spot touching to energise the stater solinoid. This happened ro us on the way to Bowling Green..took forever to figure this out..after buying new Alt,,Battery and other such waste..This was on a small block chev..
I can see you confusing today's counter guys. A 1958 Buick certainly has a starter solenoid mounted on the starter. It Also has a relay controlled by the accelerator pedal switch. You've changed that to be controlled by a push ****on. Start your checking there.
I brought my Buick to the shop today to see what was making all the noise. They pulled the flexplate cover and discovered that one of the bolts that holds the flexplate to the torque converter had snapped in half and the remaining two bolts were loose. Right now they are trying to get part of the broken one out of the threads. Can someone please help me understand how this could happen so it never happens again. When it first happened on Saturday and I pulled over, when I went to start the car again I didn't get so much as a sound from the starter. It took me jumping the relay from the positive battery cable to get it to engage again. Could this problem have caused the starter to temporarily fail? I can't wrap my head around how this could happen. Very frustrating.
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