[68XR-7Cat]

BBCat has been sitting somewhat ignored in the trailer since mid-August when I drove it to Boston and back via the MA Turnpike. It went into the trailer with some good high-speed run time on it and no history of starting problems.

Today, I went to pull it out of the trailer to swap the rear bumper and all I got was a click. Since I installed a replica Autolite battery in July, I considered that it might not hold a charge as well as the previous battery, so I tried to jump start it with my F350. Still, only a click.

The interior lights are on nice and bright and the charger I put on the battery shows green, but still only a click. I did check to make sure the terminals and solenoid connections were all tight and found one loose one on the solenoid. But even after tightening that, still only a single click.

Could the solenoid be the culprit here?

 

[Harvey]

sounds like it, a screwdriver between the two posts would tell ya. I had one go bad on me a long time ago. You can jump the two large posts to see if it will turn over. If so it is definitely the solenoid.

 

[Harvey]

screwdriver is to jump between two small posts. Make sure car is in park when you do.

 

[68XR-7Cat]

I had a spare solenoid, but doing the swap just made things more confusing unfortunately. In the near-dark inside the trailer, I missed two of the wires that were connected to the original solenoid and now I'm not sure where they went. If anyone has a close-up picture of the solenoid for a '67, I'd appreciate it. I'll have to wait until Saturday now to try to fix it but would appreciate a visual that will help me quickly get back to a known good starting point.

 

[gt390xr7]

XR7 or standard, they're different?

 

[Smith Brother]

Hit it with a hammer, the starter that is.....

Dale in Indy

 

[68XR-7Cat]

It's an XR-7 with a 390-4V.

 

[Harvey]

Gotta love them hammers

 

[Smith Brother]

Yep, a few years back coming home from Saginaw I had to tap my starter a few times to get it going. Got to love a hammer to the starter case, an old, old trick, for sure.

Dale in Indy

 

[68XR-7Cat]

Hit it with a hammer, the starter that is.....

Dale in Indy

Tried that earlier. Problem is that I can't slide in between the car and the trailer wall far enough back to reach the starter. I run into the fender well before I can get an angle on it. I did try to hit it from the front but couldn't see what I was actually hitting. I may have to roll the car out of the trailer to try that.

 

[Harvey]

I think you are going to find it was the solenoid. I believe they go out a lot more often than the brushes on the starter.

 

[woodsnake]

Or just dirty connections......

 

[robertpaulmoran]

This is all I know about that:

To trouble shoot start problems:
01). Turn on headlights.
02). Turn key to start.
a). If headlights dim: starter is using too much power, it's "dust" and so replace it.
b). If headlights go "out" then Neg cable at battery is loose, tighten it.
c). If headlights do not change at all: Cable connection at starter is loose, tighten
it.
d). If solinoid "rattles": Pos connect at battery is loose, tighten it.

end

 

[Dominion]

You might also try jumping the neutral safety switch, if nothing else works.

 

[68XR-7Cat]

Those who voted for loose connection were the prophets on this one. It turned out, though, that the loose connection was down at the starter. I trailered the car down to my friend Dave, who runs a restoration business from his home, because I couldn't spend enough time on it and knew he'd fix the problem in time for this weekend. He didn't find any connections loose up top, but jiggled the starter cable and noted a spark from down by the starter. He then pulled the cable a bit and was able to start the car to get it off the trailer and into his shop so he could properly tighten the cable at the starter. So it was a simple fix in the end, but I'm taking advantage of Dave having the car and paying him to take care of some other things that I haven't had time to address.