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Won't start

D

DAVE PERRY

New Member
I'm new owner of a TTA. Just took it out for a few short drives. When car has been driven a few miles and I shut it off it will not start if I try try fire it up immediately after shutting it off. If I wait 4-5 minutes it starts up. Engine turns over fine , just won't fire. Any help is appreciatted.
 
Purchase the following: Fuel Pressure Gauge and adapter, ScanMaster,
TTA owner's manual supplement. I like fullthrottlespeed.com for the first two.

You'll want to check your fuel pressure in particular. If you have a leak-down somewhere, the car will not start up easily after shutting down because the pump will not go through the priming process.
 
If the starter gets heat soaked (mine did this) it will not start until it cools down in about 5 - 10 minutes, then it will start fine. I replaced my starter with a new one and it never did that after.
 
To do a quick check , when it wont start , unhook a plug wire and check for spark using a spark tester or insert a sparkplug into it and lay it against an engine ground and check for spark while cranking. If there is a good spark ,press in on the shrader valve on the fuel rail . Put a rag under and around to catch fuel spray. If it sprays after cranking , the problem isn't fuel pressure related. One of the two tests should get you pointed in the right direction.
 
RatFink said:
If the starter gets heat soaked (mine did this) it will not start until it cools down in about 5 - 10 minutes, then it will start fine. I replaced my starter with a new one and it never did that after.
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What does heat soaked mean? This happened to me today, running fine on a trip to Chicago. Turned the car off to pop the trunk and then went to fire it up again, and nothing, battery level at 8 and didn't crank at all. Waited about 5 minut and fired right back up. No error codes or anything on the scanmaster, sounds like I need a new starter.
 
Batt. should not drop be low 9.6 volts cranking if it does replace batt.
Dave next time try putting pedel to floor and try to start.fuel pressure reg may be leaking and flooding eng.
 
Usually the starter solenoid sticks from expansion when hot and won't engage the starter drive..cooling down allows free movement and it works .. Been a problem with GM since day one. Some starters on GM products have heat shields for the solenoid , but it can still happen... A gear reduction , non GM starter should provide weight loss and a better fight against heat soak. If your battery voltage is at 8 volts when warm , it's no good . Should not drop below high 9's when temp is high.....when starter cools down , it does not take as much cranking amps to turn the engine over.
 
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Kman1971 said:
What does heat soaked mean? This happened to me today, running fine on a trip to Chicago. Turned the car off to pop the trunk and then went to fire it up again, and nothing, battery level at 8 and didn't crank at all. Waited about 5 minut and fired right back up. No error codes or anything on the scanmaster, sounds like I need a new starter.
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bad starter or dead cell in bat. or both, any part's house can check for free. one mistake people make is to charge the bat with the car running, only thing it does is kill the alt.
 
DAVE PERRY said:
I'm new owner of a TTA. Just took it out for a few short drives. When car has been driven a few miles and I shut it off it will not start if I try try fire it up immediately after shutting it off. If I wait 4-5 minutes it starts up. Engine turns over fine , just won't fire. Any help is appreciatted.
Click to expand...
Check what TTA579 said and make sure your gas cap is good
 
Crank sensors can fail when hot. Next time it doesn't start, pour water down the left front side of the engine and see if it starts.
 
You can do it. Unplug the battery, unbolt and remove the wires on the big stud and little stud on the starter. Then unbolt the two starter bolts that hold the starter on the engine block and keep a good hand on the starter as it is heavy. Be sure to use jack stands to hold the car up not just the jack. Install is the reverse. EASY! Just take your time and lift the car high enough so you can wiggle around under there.
 
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Awesome... I CAN DO IT.... already ordered the one from db electric..

btw, where is the starter located under the car?

Thanks for the help...
 
Kman1971 said:
Awesome... I CAN DO IT.... already ordered the one from db electric..

btw, where is the starter located under the car?

Thanks for the help...
Click to expand...

It's next to the crossover pipe, in the pic below you can see it. You can see where the gears on the starter engage the flywheel gears.

Did you verify part number on the DB electric website? The link you gave above has it as a starter for a 5.7 litre motor, may want to call a turbo buick vendor and ask them if they can relay the correct part number, like Jack Cotton, Mike Licht at Full Throttle.

17.jpg
 
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yeah you must have the correct starter or you'll get an awful screeching sound and damage the flexplate. You'll get that starter in, this will probably lead to doin all the future wrenching yourself. way better to do things yourself so you know how well or poorly its done vs paying some J.A. to do it.
 
I think that is the mini starter I got as a new spare for mine and I had a few guys on tb.com verify they used the same and were happy with it ... but yes double check just to be sure.

Also the mini starters use shorter bolts and mine came wiht the correct shouldered bolts (dont use regular bolts on a starter).

If I remember correct you will need to remove the flxplate/converted cover (4 screws) and possibly the crossover pipe but at the moment I'm not 100% sure so maybe someone else can chime in here.

The OEM starter is heavy so be prepared when you drop it ... the mini starter is a breeze to install due to size and weight specially if you are under there on your back :-)

Here's a couple of photos of mine that I bought a long time ago from turbobuicks.com and it's a direct bolt in and came with the correct lenght bolts etc and I have never had any problems with it at all (my OEM solenoid gave up on me so decided to replace it all with the mini starter).
 

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And two more from when I had mine in the engine stand just so you can see more in detail where it sits without other stuff in the way.
 

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