Need help. On the road bad starter

[DavidRS]

Made my usual trip from Scottsdale for classic car week. Did a detour to Willow Springs since I had never seen it. Turned off the car to get info. When I tried to start it nothing. Got a couple of track guys to push start me and now a in Tehachapi. Thought it was just a hot starter and let it sit all night. No start this morning. No noise on turning the key. Gauges work as so lights. Thoughts on the issue? May try to bump start it since that worked once.

Any thoughts on cause? Was around 109 at Willow and the drive from Barstow to there was a little warm. What damage would getting the starter hot do? Other potential fixes I could try?

Thanks for any help that comes

[72targa]

I'm wondering if your battery, or both of them, is/are dead...

Hope others with more knowledge wake up soon...

[DavidRS]

Just tried again and am getting a "click" at the start detent on the ignition, so it appears power is getting there. Thoughts?

[mac73s]

Volts are one thing, amps are another and you need both in sufficient quantity to turn a starter over - meaning you can have enough volts and some amps to light lights, blow a horn, etc . but a failing battery simply might not be retaining enough amps to start the engine. I would check to ensure that the cable ends to the battery or batteries - both negative and positive are shiny clean..they can act up intermittently if not clean and give the symptoms you describe...basics first.

[Theunz]

If there is a national auto parts chain close you could push start it again and drive it there. Most of them do free battery and starter systems checks. In the mean time park on hills! Mike

[adam912]

There is also the old standby, used on many old vws and also on early 911s/912s.
Including my '66 912, when I bought it in 1970.
The story told back in the day was that the big wire from battery to starter gets high in resistance over the years.
It's probably corroded connectors or something similar, but whatever the root cause, the result is that a hot car means the starter does not spin. Click click is all you get.
The classic temporary solution if you are stuck on the road is to give the starter a mighty whack with a hammer or something similar.
The long term fix (at least for my '66) is a new solenoid installed next to the starter.
The new solenoid is switched by the ignition switch, so the high current pulled by the starter's own internal solenoid is supplied by the new solenoid, not the ignition switch.

Right after I bought my car in 1970, I drove it from LA to Crater Lake, Oregon, camping along the way. The hammer technique, along with parking on a slope at night whenever I could, got me to Oregon and back.
I bought the solenoid at Performance Products when I got home, installed it, and have never had a starter problem since (other than wearing the thing out--my car now has 475K miles!)

Good luck!
Adam

[ejboyd5]

A set of jumper cables and someone else's battery would help the diagnosis immensely.

[DavidRS]

Thanks all. A rap with my trusty Rachel handle on the starter did it. Am now in Carmel drinking. Did no turn it off to fill up and ran straight fro Tehachapi to Carmel (one gas stop) in a little less than 4 hours. Turned off and then checked. Starter seems to b working. Guess solenoid most likely. Will look for a local shop that will take on the diagnostic. Will try Classic in Monterey. Thanks for the suggestions

[DavidRS]

Oops. Rachet not Rachel handle. Stoopid autocorrect

[Robert5995]

David -

I have names for some of my tools, as well!

- Rob