69 Imperial Won't Crank over

wizard

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My 69 imperial will not crank over. It has been sitting for about a year without me starting it up. Normally it cranks right over and no problems. Today was different. I have a fresh charged battery as I confirmed this by firing up my 73 Imperial right up using same battery. The 73 sat for about a year also. All the 69 does when you turn the key is it makes a sound like "boing, boing, boing" every time you turn key to start it. Starter does not turn over. I tried moving the column shifter many, many times to see if safety switch was disengaged so it will start in either P or N. No luck. I did the old screwdriver trick sticking it down on starter terminals to bump the starter. It bumped once and all the other times it just showered sparks and did not here it engage/ move. Tried starting few times with key after doing this. No luck.

Anyone have any ideas? It always fired up every year. Not this time.
 
have you tried hitting the side of the starter with a hammer? I've started cars with bad starters more than 20 times over the years by doing that.
 
Yes I have done that too over the years.
 
I would say try tapping the starter first and as you get more angry a bit more force ,,,but don't get carried away!!! Good luck!
 
Sounds like the starter is you problem, do you have a test light? If you do test for power at the starter on the small wire when jumping the relay or turning the key. The large wire will have battery power always. If you have power on both the starter is bad.
 
I solved this same problem with softly hitting the Starter relais. It was stuck. After that it fired right up.
 
Well the most over looked thing when an engine will not crank. Check your ground cable at the engine block. If the cable is bad, it will never crank over.
 
I think you're screwed, you better just give the car to me...:poke:
 
I assume the bonking noise you describe is the starter solenoid engaging and making contact but then voltage drops so it disengages again (repeat).

After longer storage it might indeed happen that the starter solenoid gets stuck so it can be freed by tapping it with a hammer. However, if that was your car's condition, there would most likely be no sound upon turning the key. It'd probably just be dead before said hammer massage. At least that's my experience. And I never heard of the actual starter motor getting stuck.

If the condition you describe can actually be overcome by tapping the starter solenoid with a hammer, it might as well hint towards the contacts in the solenoid being dirty or worn. If that is the case, the symptom would re-occur, most likely in the moments you least expect it, like after pumping gas. While hammering away on the starter of the hot engine you burn your knuckles. Afterwards you want to buy a new starter. Provided you didn't toss the hammer in the direction of some teenager in baggy jeans watching you and making comments like "Crappy old car doesn't wanna start, eh?", for which you then have to report to the Police.

Not wanting to insult your intelligence, but some people just slip on the cable terminals over the battery posts without tightening them. This might already cause too high a resistance for the starter motor to turn, especially if the battery posts show signs of oxidation.
 
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As stated before, in my case it was the starter relais. The "boing" sound came from something down around the pedals in the interior. I chased it down but cant remember what it was.

I had the hint from Ceebuddy and he nailed it. It worked very well after that. later on, I overhauled the relias and it never happened again.
 
Yes, the " boing, boing" noise is heard every time you turn the key and can hear it behind the speedometer and down near the pedals behind the main instrument cluster. I have heard this before when the car ran so its not really the problem. I agree its in the starter and need to tap with a hammer. Haven't done this yet.

Wizard
 
Yeah, true, it could of course be only the starter relais on the firewall, next to the brake booster. Some knocking on it (with hand) might do the trick!
 
I'm closer to you than Matt if you choose to give the car away :poke:
Just kidding I think your starter has seen better days.
 
i was gonna say hit it with a hammer also but, since everybody else said the same thing
 
I tried banging on starter today but did not work. I really could not get any good force hitting it. Difficult angle to get any good hits on the side with a hammer. I tapped on the end facing the radiator and back side facing the firewall. Did not start or crank over. I tapped it with a wrench bunch of times but nothing. Guess I will have to pull out the starter.

Wizard
 
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Sounds like the starter is you problem, do you have a test light? If you do test for power at the starter on the small wire when jumping the relay or turning the key. The large wire will have battery power always. If you have power on both the starter is bad.
Did you test for power like I suggested above? It's better to trouble shoot the system than just guess.
 
No, I can't get at the starter at all. I am going to have to jack it up to get to it. Will just pull starter out probably or tap on it better once car is jacked up. Will do your light test before I pull it out.
 
I did bang on the starter pretty good all over as I have the car now up on jackstands and can get under it easily. I had someone turn the key a bunch of times trying to start it while I was underneath with a test light. The large terminal is always getting 12v with the light with or without the key on. The smaller terminal beside it on the starter is not getting any voltage when the key is turned on or trying to start it. I constantly here a "boing, boing, boing" noise behind the dashboard and believe it is starter relay making it on outside of firewall. Basically, getting no voltage to the small terminal which is the problem for the starter not engaging or cranking over. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this or where to check?

Wizard
 
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