'56 Bel Air, not starting

[BrianLas]

I just got a 56 Bel Air from a guy, who said that the car starts if you jump start the solenoid. How do you do this?

[silicon212]

Originally Posted by BrianLas

I just got a 56 Bel Air from a guy, who said that the car starts if you jump start the solenoid. How do you do this?

You jump the "S" terminal on the solenoid to the positive battery cable. You can do this with a screwdriver, but BE CAREFUL! You can melt the screwdriver and set fire to the car if you ground the screwdriver!

[corning_d3]

I'd just put a new solenoid on it..That is if the ignition switch was working right..

[silicon212]

Originally Posted by corning_d3

I'd just put a new solenoid on it..That is if the ignition switch was working right..

If the solenoid is dead, jumping it with a screwdriver would be a waste of time. Think about it for a minute.

[corning_d3]

I'm not following...

[silicon212]

When you jump the S terminal on the solenoid to the battery terminal, you're effectively doing the job of the starter switch circuit on the ignition switch - you're providing power to the S terminal, which is what happens when you turn your key to "start". If the solenoid is bad, and is causing the problem, then supplying the S terminal with power will do nothing - because the solenoid is bad!

What jumping the solenoid does, is bypass the switch entirely. This, along with providing battery power to the distributor, is how one "hot-wired" cars of yore.

[BrianLas]

As far as I know, this is how the previous owner started his, so the solenoid is working. I will try it and let you guys know what happens.

[BrianLas]

No luck, but I am fairly certain that the battery has no juice. no lights or anything turned on, so i have a few things i have to troubleshoot

[ACLineman]

Any luck yet?
It is important that the battery is fully charged and ALL connectionsfrom the battery to the starter posts are CLEAN AND TIGHT. If not your chasing your tail.

Could be the starter and solenoid are ok, and when you "jump it with a screw driver" , you are simply making a better connection than say a loose nut, if in fact that is the case.

If the battery is up (remember the volt reading good be good at 14+ volts under no load, yet it could still be bad under load) and all connections are clean and tight, and you still get the same result, I would just pull the starter and replace with a rebuilt one. Easy job.

Hopefully you already have it working by now