85 GSL SE will not start as of 30 mins ago. It was fine all day, perfect in fact. Now that its dark and cold as **** the starter won't even turn over. Brand new battery, alternator was charging fine this afternoon. Why? If its not one thing its another with this car, I love it, but damn.

Could the starter solenoid be messing up due to the cold? This is ridiculous.

 

Do you have a voltmeter? check for voltage at the battery, it should be more than 12v if the battery is fully charged. Also make sure there is good contact between the battery terminals and the battery cable ends.

If there is good voltage and the terminals are clean and making good contact, then you can use the volt meter to check the battery cables, this may take more than one person. Connect one lead to the positive battery terminal and one to the other end of the positive battery cable at the starter, this may require you to get underneath the car and/or use alligator clips. With this connected, the voltmeter should read 0v, since your connected positive to positive. While watching the meter, attempt to crank the motor over. The volt meter reading should be less than 1v. What your measuring is the quality of the battery cable, if the cable is bad, then it will drop voltage across it which can be read on the voltmeter. You are proving that the starter is receiving 12v of power when the cables are under load. Connect the lead on the starter to the small wire on the back of the solenoid(the one the comes from the ignition switch) and attempt to crank again. Again, the voltmeter should read less than 1v while trying to crank if the ignition switch is not dropping voltage. Now, do this check with the negative cable as well. Negative terminal of the battery to the point where the negative terminal grounds to the block.

If you find that the battery positive, the ignition switch positive, and the ground circuits are not dropping more than about 1v then your starter is the culprit. Hope i could help, let me know if you need clarifying for anything i said.

 

my question would be is the engine turning over when you turn the key to start it? my assumption if it is that it could be flooded due to slow or excessive cranking.

 

Oh no, there is NOTHING happening. It won't even turn the motor over. The dash lights come on bright as hell, like always. Connection at the battery is top-notch. I figured even with a failing wire to the starter it would ATTEMPT to do SOMETHING. The dash lights don't even dim when I turn the key, haha. As stated previously, it worked BEAUTIFULLY all day. Then when temps dip below 40* or so it decides not to do ****.

 

Gotta be the starter. I went outside and tapped (wailed) on the starter with *ahem* an automotive tool and then tried to crank it...Started right up.

 

my 85 does the samething at temps under 48, took me 2 pushes to get it start tonight.

 

Your soleniod was stuck and the BFH fixed it for you when you wailed on it. Old soleniods get corroded or moisture in them and seize up when its cold sometimes. Starter may be fine, just may need a new soleniod. Glad you got it started.

 

check the one wire connection at the solenoid. this is your power supply, it can become loose and cause the problem you are experiencing. tapping the starter may have set the wire back in place. if not, you may have a failing soleniod as mentioned.

 

It was fine all day today again. We'll see how it does tonight, haha.