This has been the year for car problems...

I turn the key and intermittantly I hear the tic, tic, tic and it won't turn over. Sometimes it turns over just fine, sometimes it doesn't. No rhyme or reason.

Yes. The battery has a full charge.
Yes. It runs fine once it starts.
Yes. the alternator is new.
Yes. The starter is new.

I am guessing it could be a starter wire? If so, I would probably want to trace and replace. Is this a PIA? Any suggestions or other things to look for prior to putting myself through a maze of stuff laying on my back under the car not knowing what I am looking at?

 

Check the connections on the battery cables. If they are dirty, it can cause you to have a bad ground and make sure the bolts holding them on are tight. Does it do this when the car has been sitting over night or when it is hot?

 

I have cleaned all contacts and connections on the battery, and the connections under the hood as well. It did it this morning when it had been sitting overnight, and last night on the way home from work when I stopped at the grocery store (hot).

A new starter was installed a couple of weeks ago and it had this problem so I took it back and another one was put in, and the problem persists. The work was done at my dealer so it was under warranty but now I feel like there must be something else causing the problem.

 

I had the same problem in my winter car last year. My winter car would not turn over and when it did it ran fine.

It was my fuelpump. Don't confuse it with the chep fuel filter. The fuel pump is expensive to fix because they have to rip down the gas tank. It ended up to be $400 or so. This was on a 93 oldsmobile Bravada.

 

Fuel pump and filter are also both new (within 60 days). This has been a rough year...

 

If it goes tick, tick, tick, you mean the starter is never engaging, right? I'm trying to figure out what this has to do with fuel delivery.

If you have good 12v battery connection to the starter, it could be the theft deterrent relay or something in the ignition switch or switch circuit wiring. Could have something to do with the neutral safety switch as well. The only way to prove that this part of the system is causing the trouble, would be to monitor the purple wire at the starter when the trouble is occurring. That purple wire is what carries the signal from the ignition switch to operate the starter. It should have 12v on it when you turn the key to START.

Your 1994 should be similar to (or same as) this 1995 schematic.

 

More info...

If I jump the car from the front it starts right up. If I jump the car from the rear it does not. (Battery is in the rear). I bought a long ground cable and ran it from the negative terminal on the battery to the alternator bracket as a ground but it did not seem to help. Hoewver the battery tests fine but was depleted as the alternator had not been charging it. There is now a charger on the battery.

Iwould have expected the alternator gauge to show it was charging if the new ground wire had fixed the problem but it isn't showing that.

Now I am looking for a bad connection on the positive side.

Oh yea, the battery shows 12.25 volts at the battery and also at the front connections.

The clicking or ticking sound is like the solenoid is stuck or the battery is dead... But the first gm replacement starter did it and now this secind gm replacement starter is doing it, and what are the odds of a dealer getting two bad starters in a row?

 

Sounds like the starter is not getting enough current from the battery when it has to go through the extra long cables. If the cable are too small, or have broken lines in them, they will increase the restance on the line causing current to drop

 

I "think" I found it...

There is a power wire from the battery to the alternator that runs under the car. Where it is fairly close to the longtubes it had burned and frayed to the point where it would intermittantly short out. I removed the damaged piece and ran new wire to the alternator. The car then started right up quick like it is supposed to. While doing this I had the battery disconnected and on a charger. I temporarily wire tied it well away from the headers and just sealed the connection with tape. If the problem is gone I will put on some good crimp connectors tomorrow but I want to wait for daylight as I have no garage and I have not yet had dinner tonight.

Thank you to everyone for all the helpful suggestions. Hopefully the problem is solved.

 

Not fixed. I was up late last night to no avail. I'm now guessing it is heat related. Will try bending an old lixcense plate around the starter to see if it will help.

There must be an easier way to fix this...

It worked fine until the original starter went. The dealer put in the new one because I figured 200,000 miles on the old one was a pretty good deal. I guess the new ones are "improved....."

 

Did you check the ground cable down near the starter? Mine had a desire to keep loosening up, was making it hard to turn the car over.

 

Ted,
I know you have a car built around the track- is it running on race fuel?
If your compression is high, you might need an upgraded starter. Just to think out of th box for a second.

 

Regular pump gas mixed with a toch of 104 unleaded. The original starter lasted 200,000 miles including the last two years with the same motor/header combination. Thats whay I'm scratching my head. There have been no changes to the car except for the new starter/alternator.

 

The last time I replaced my battery,it did as you discribed.When Sears tested the battery,it still had 12 volts,but the ohms,or watts or something was down below 400,and would not start the car.Replaced it with a new gold battery,(that was 3 years ago)and everything was fine.Hope this helps.