Starter bad?

I have a 69' camaro, and I think the starter is bad, When I try to start it, it will crank over, and stop, then crank over again. It is getting spark, I checked for that.

It has 12.5:1 compression, and it has been sitting for a while - it also looks like the origional starter.

When we were trying to start it, we were jumping it from another car. Some people said that made a difference, but I think it makes NONE.

Do you think the starter is bad?

It is conceiveable that the starter needed a little more current than the jumper cables you were using are capable of supplying. It is also conceiveable that the brushes in the starter need to be replaced. I believe it is also conceivable that your ignition timing could be advanced too far.

Have you tried push starting to make sure the engine is truly in running condition?

Also, I would like to know, just to satisfy my curiosity, how you are dealing with low-octane gasoline...

It is conceiveable that the starter needed a little more current than the jumper cables you were using are capable of supplying. It is also conceiveable that the brushes in the starter need to be replaced. I believe it is also conceivable that your ignition timing could be advanced too far.

Have you tried push starting to make sure the engine is truly in running condition?

Also, I would like to know, just to satisfy my curiosity, how you are dealing with low-octane gasoline...


Well, we took the starter apart, and cleaned it all up, still no difference, we tried to advance/retard the timing the whole time we were trying to start it. We are getting spark, we already checked. It is going to be impossible to push start it, because if that doesnt start it, then we wolnt be able to get it back in the garage, cuz it has kind of a lip.

And I have no clue about the gas, because it's been sitting there for about 4 years without being started.

And it doesnt matter if the cables are there, it would do the same thing if we put a battery in there. . .

FOUR YEARS?? I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut your gasoline is B-A-D! You're getting spark, and the thing won't even fire (that's what I am assuming, you never said it fires at all), so it must be a fuel problem. Gasoline can go bad in far less than four years. Were I you, I'd purge the fuel system entirely and put a few gallons of fresh fuel in the tank. Trying to troubleshoot the problem using bad gas is a big waste of your time.

Something that you may or may not realize, however, about checking spark: just because you can see spark out in the open does not mean that a the plug will actually fire under actual running conditions (under compression). Especially with a high compression engine like yours...the compressed air is a dialectric, and introduces the requirement for a very high voltage to overcome the spark gap. The bottom line is that a relatively low voltage can create a spark at atmospheric pressure and that very same voltage may not overcome the spark gap at even just 8 or 9 to one compression.

I do think that your old gasoline is the likely cause of your difficulties, however.

FOUR YEARS?? I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut your gasoline is B-A-D! You're getting spark, and the thing won't even fire (that's what I am assuming, you never said it fires at all), so it must be a fuel problem. Gasoline can go bad in far less than four years. Were I you, I'd purge the fuel system entirely and put a few gallons of fresh fuel in the tank. Trying to troubleshoot the problem using bad gas is a big waste of your time.

Something that you may or may not realize, however, about checking spark: just because you can see spark out in the open does not mean that a the plug will actually fire under actual running conditions (under compression). Especially with a high compression engine like yours...the compressed air is a dialectric, and introduces the requirement for a very high voltage to overcome the spark gap. The bottom line is that a relatively low voltage can create a spark at atmospheric pressure and that very same voltage may not overcome the spark gap at even just 8 or 9 to one compression.

I do think that your old gasoline is the likely cause of your difficulties, however.

I don't think it is bad gas, because the engine will hardly turn over. It will turn over, then stop, then turn over again, then it wolnt have enough power to turn it over again.

Bump, anyone think I should try a new starter? I really dont want to buy a starter, then have it not work, and have that one sitting on the car for a while.