89 Firebird 2.8 won't start

When i turn the key, all it does is make one solid click that seems to be coming from down on the lower-passenger side of the engine, where the starter would be. Would this be my starter or my solenoid? Also, is the solenoid on this particular model on the starter or on the fender somewhere? Thanks

PS: rice lovers think it's the funniest thing in the world watching a redneck push start his firebird with another car.

if you hear the click, thats the solenoid energizing..so im pretty sure its the motor. and lol @ your pushstarting. hahahah. i push-started my own car once..left the damn lights on and had to push the thing... it was a 4-5000lb monster of a pickup truck too. that wasnt really fun.. good thing i was on a hill :)

Yeah, the starter was shot, bought a reman for $86 and tried to put it on. That god damn gasket/shim thing that goes between it and the motor that you put the bolts through is pissing me off. How the hell do you get it to stay on? I swear i want to go find the guy who design's GM's starters, kick his ass a few times, shove him under my car and make him personally change my starter so that on the next ones, it won't be like that. If i don't get it on by tonight, i'm listing the piece of shit car in the paper monday morning.

hahah how much times ive felt like that.. >_<;;

Finally got the thing on there, starts great and runs great now. I decided to chuck that thin little gasket instead of mess with it.

The shim is there for imperfections in remanufacturing as well as multiple vehilce application with the same part.

For future reference, next time, measure the mounting base of the starter to determine if the shim is needed, saves a bit of knuckle skin :thumbsup:

FAAAAREAAAK!. It was running so well these past few weeks, my coolant leak suddenly stopped too. I was happier'n a tornado in a trailer park. Just an hour ago, while leaving school, i went to start it and the starter motor just whirred and didn't turn it over. Got to enjoy once again, the insults and rude remarks from the rice crowd as a i got out and pushed it to a slope. I blame myself for being stupid enough to buy a reman from NAPA. I had forgotten about all the shitty products they'd sold us in the past as i was in a hurry to get the damn car running again. Looks like when i'm going to take it back in there once i get time to take the thing off, and demand a refund, then go order one from someone else. The idea of selling the car and buying a little pickup is becoming more and more appealing though. Still trying to find out where that coolant leak is coming from. It appears just on top of the water pump and in a 4 inch radius above it. I know it isn't the pump as that's brand new and i sealed it really good. Any assistance would be great in diagnosing this.

Yeah I know the feeling. Had my water pump gasket blow out on me one week, and the following week had my starter quit on me. I ended up buying a remanufactured starter from Advance auto parts, and when I got the sucker in, and went to connect the positive wire down onto bolt on the solenoid, the bolt broke in half.

I'd suggest to try checking to make sure none of the bolts came loose from the bottom that support it, that could be whats causing it to not engage with the flywheel. Had that happen to me too. As for the leak, the only things I could think of that are above your water pump are the Upper and Lower intake manifolds, the thermostat housing, and the radiator hose. So try to check those frequently to see if you can narrow down that leak.

If the starter pinion depth was not correct from not having the shim installed to set the distance you can't belame the parts store :nono:

Well, i'll have to buy a new one anyway, can't find the fscking receipt. Still blame NAPA for it going out, as i've never had a good part from them before, just bought it from them because Parts Plus was closed and i needed the car running right away. I think i'll hold off on fixing it, my mother caught me pushing it out of the driveway and hopping in to start it (our driveway has a nice grade to it), she freaked, especially when it didn't crank over and i ended up on the other side of the street due to no power breaks. I am officially removed from the Bird and forced to cope with my dad's 99 Toyota Sienna that runs on 5 out of 6 cylinders. Can you say gutless?

GOSH F$CKING DAMNIT! I got underneath to look at it, and noticed it wasn't aligned very well, and it jiggled a little bit. Then i noticed one of the bolts was fscking GONE. GONE! I know damn well and can remember clearly tightening those bolts. So i doubt it just wiggled out, i have a bad feeling that there is a good chunk of it still lodged in the hole, which will be a pain in the @$$ to clear out when i put a new bolt in. I'm not really a machining expert and don't want to just drill it out, because then i probably won't get the new bolt to stay in. I'm pretty sure now that i'm just gonna sell it.

Yeah I had a feeling that was the problem, like I said, the same thing happened to me. What I would suggest is taking the one remaining bolt up to Ace hardware, Home Depot, or whatever is closest to you and finding another matching bolt. Take the starter off, and examine the mounting holes. Odds are you just didn't torque it down enough and the bolt fell out. Try to think positive man :thumbsup:

While i haven't had the time and dry weather to check, i've decided it probably worked it's way unscrewed. I do remember having difficulty tightening it because of the space. And it didn't just clunk off, it progressed until it stopped working over the space of a few days.

Looks like i'm probably selling her. My mom FLIPPED when i told her i was going to go try and put it back together this afternoon. She told me not to even think about touching that car. She's always been opposed to me having a Firebird ever since i bought it, now she's finally acting on it.

Yep, same situation happened with me. I was lucky enough that when the bolt fell out, it got stopped by my exhaust pipe and pretty much hung out there on top of it. Maybe you could try working on it while your moms gone at work or something, or even take it over to one of your friends houses to work on it. If you bought the car with your own money, then she has no right to tell you what to do with it as long as it's not affecting her in any way. If she's paying for the parts to be replaced, and paid for the car, then I can somewhat understand her frustration. But with something so simple as being a starter, I couldn't imagine anyone not being understanding about that. It's a simple fix, not like you blew your engine or something.

Heh, while it was hanging by the one bolt, it broke the shaft on the starter that that bolt goes through. So now there's no way to hold it to the car. I'm gonna go into Parts Plus tomorrow and get a new starter as well as a bolt.

might of knocked a few teeth off the flexplate too :eek:

I'm done. I got permission yesterday from my mom to buy a new starter and commence repairing the car. So i go in today, buy one, and come home to put it on, and there stands my dad PISSED and waiting. After chewing me out about it for a half an hour, he told me i'm to leave the car alone and to not bother fixing it, and he's confiscating the toyota on Monday so i'm going to be walking until i'm 18. I'll probably be listing the bird in the local paper early next week.

As a parent, I was enthused when my child took interest in repairing htings.

Only thing I would be standing there pissed about is i fhte tools I need were in use without askin gfirst. That reminds me, I have a set of screwdrivers a certain kid needs a kick in rear for :icon16:

Hey i've got an 89 formula firebird 305 TPI. It surges when a try to drive at a steady speed ... in town driving or highway driving it will surges at a steady speed. when i accelerate it wont surge or when i let off of the accelerater it won't surge... Also when I'm on the freeway 70's, 80's 90mph it won't surge at all. This problem is very annoying... anyone have any ideas

89 formula firebird 305tpi. car surges at a steady driving speed . not when accelerating . and doesn't surge freeway speeds just in town and highway speeds.

Wlecome to the madness Formula11 :wave:


Take one step back to the "Problem diagnosis" main page and start a "new Thread" :thumbsup: