'89 Starter? Distributor?

[windstorm24]

First thing's first, this is post #1 for me and I know very little about my car. The only time I learn things is when it messes up. (Yes, I'm a girl) I checked the forums but I didn't see my particular problem.

Here's my problem:

My car runs fine. Not great, but fine. A few months ago it began to stop starting for no apparent reason. I'd let it wait a little while and it would start up. I took it to a shop and they diagnosed and replaced my starter. After replacing the starter, the car sounded funny. It made an extra whirring noise briefly after it started up, so I took it back to the guys to let them check it out. The guy looked at me like I was an idiot and said it was supposed to sound like that.

(I've only been driving the car for years and it's been in my family since 90 or 91, but whatever.)

Well it ran fine afterwards with no problems. I put Unleaded Plus in my car before work last night and when I tried to leave this morning the thing wouldn't start. There's a brief click but no attempts at cranking. My lights weren't dim or anything, but I checked my battery. The water was low so we put water in it. We tried to charge the battery, but it wasn't accepting a charge. I used a portable battery charger to check it and it said the battery was weak. At any rate, I didn't have battery problems prior to this.

My battery is 2 years old, but it was a good battery. I don't know what would've drained it other than a bad starter. So I took it back to the place that replaced my starter initially. They said it "definitely wasn't the starter." Instead it was that my battery was bad and my distributor cap was loose and the rotator cup was cracked. I told them not to work on my car, but when I went to autozone to get price checks for a battery, starter, and the distributor, the worker there told me that a distributor would prevent my car from starting.

I just wasn't under the impression that it would drain my battery. Help? I don't know much, but I'm open to suggestions and can try to answer any questions.


1989 V8 Cammy with a 305 engine.

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by windstorm24

First thing's first, this is post #1 for me and I know very little about my car. The only time I learn things is when it messes up. (Yes, I'm a girl) I checked the forums but I didn't see my particular problem.

Here's my problem:

My car runs fine. Not great, but fine. A few months ago it began to stop starting for no apparent reason. I'd let it wait a little while and it would start up. I took it to a shop and they diagnosed and replaced my starter. After replacing the starter, the car sounded funny. It made an extra whirring noise briefly after it started up, so I took it back to the guys to let them check it out. The guy looked at me like I was an idiot and said it was supposed to sound like that.

(I've only been driving the car for years and it's been in my family since 90 or 91, but whatever.)

Well it ran fine afterwards with no problems. I put Unleaded Plus in my car before work last night and when I tried to leave this morning the thing wouldn't start. There's a brief click but no attempts at cranking. My lights weren't dim or anything, but I checked my battery. The water was low so we put water in it. We tried to charge the battery, but it wasn't accepting a charge. I used a portable battery charger to check it and it said the battery was weak. At any rate, I didn't have battery problems prior to this.

My battery is 2 years old, but it was a good battery. I don't know what would've drained it other than a bad starter. So I took it back to the place that replaced my starter initially. They said it "definitely wasn't the starter." Instead it was that my battery was bad and my distributor cap was loose and the rotator cup was cracked. I told them not to work on my car, but when I went to autozone to get price checks for a battery, starter, and the distributor, the worker there told me that a distributor would prevent my car from starting.

I just wasn't under the impression that it would drain my battery. Help? I don't know much, but I'm open to suggestions and can try to answer any questions.


1989 V8 Cammy with a 305 engine.

You may have a bad battery...when you replace it, use a maintenence free battery.
Check the battery cables..are they loose? Look at the copper part of the cable where it attaches to the battery..is it clean or corroded?
A dist problem will not prevent the starter from turning over the engine, but may cause the engine not to start

[windstorm24]

I don't have any corrosion, but I'll check the cables better than I did the first time.
Thanks

[89IROC&RS]

they screwed up your wiring somehow.

I say this as an assumption only, as i cant look everything over. BUT if the car was not having these problems before, regarding your electrical system, and it does after the work was done. I would say that somewhere in the job they did, they created a short to ground or similar situation. This is whats draining your battery and causing the no start condition. The whirring sound you hear is the starter gear winding back down after starting the engine, i dont suppose its a big deal, but i dont think it should be audible over the sound of the engine.

regarding the ignition components they were citing, it is possible that they are in need of replacement due to the fact that the car was running "fine" before, however it would be extreamly coincidental to me if they worsened to the point of failure at the same point as the work was done to install the starter. It is true that these components can cause a no start condition, but my gut says you went to a crappy shop, who did shoddy work, and are trying to sell you more work rather than do a good job of what they did first. I would take the car somewhere else from now on.

[windstorm24]

The guy currently working on my car said that he replaced the distributor stuff. It was indeed cracked. We don't know the cause.

He said he got the battery charged and the car started, but then it cut off on him. I don't know what the deal is. I can tell him to try the wiring stuff next if he hasn't already.

Thanks.

[hellraiser319]

really quick, that whirring noise starter makes after engine turns over probably means that you need a shim or 2 between the starter and the engine. they probly failed to replace them if they were there in the first place when they replaced the starter. if its really loud id have them shim it again.

[windstorm24]

Originally Posted by hellraiser319

really quick, that whirring noise starter makes after engine turns over probably means that you need a shim or 2 between the starter and the engine. they probly failed to replace them if they were there in the first place when they replaced the starter. if its really loud id have them shim it again.

K. Thanks for the input.

My car is running now. (It's been a day so I don't really want to jinx it.) I had someone work on it. I have no idea what the problem actually was, I just picked it up while the mechanic wasn't there.

The first guy who worked on my car replaced the distributor stuff and said he got the car to start but it cut off on him about a block up. Then another guy worked on it and got it to start. So.. it wasn't the battery or the starter. I'm assuming it was just a wiring thing. ? I still don't know. At any rate, the whirring noise was minimized a bit and I can barely hear it now.


Thanks all you guys for the help.

I really want to learn how to do all this stuff myself when I have the time and the patience.

[Morley]

Originally Posted by windstorm24

I really want to learn how to do all this stuff myself when I have the time and the patience.

How are you at making up swear words? Better be good at it because these cars are a real love/hate realtionship. Just wait till you start straying from "stock" and get into the wonderful world of prom burning and performance mods.