Bob,
It's very hard to diagnose electrical problems by e-mail, but what
you described is a common problem among Chevy's. A lot of it has to do
with heat on the solenoid. Since the Solenoid is mounted on the starter
on Chevys, it's close to the exhaust manifold and takes a lot of heat.
An overheated solenoid is usually the problem. I believe the technical
term for this common condition is called "Heat Soak". Type in the
following 3 words at www.google.com to see several sites that talk about
it: heat soak chevy
There are several ways to tackle this problem.
#1 A remote mounted solenoid of the type that Fo** uses is what a lot of
hot rod guys do. These kits are available at Jegs or Summit, or you can
ask a local parts place if the people behind the counter know what they
are doing.
#2 Another way is a heat shield plate, or a heat shield wrap to protect
the solenoid from the heat. Again, a good parts store should be able to
help.
#3 Clean connections are absolutely essential and can not be over
looked. Take a wire brush and clean all surfaces where the cables mount
to the engine and solenoid. Some dielectric grease (such as Dow
Corning's DC4) here helps to prevent corrosion and maintain a good
connection.
Steve
On Fri, 2004-10-29 at 19:58, Bob Holtzman wrote:
> Does anyone in the Phoenix area know of a shop that can do some
> diagnostics on a '65 Chevelle? I have an intermittent open circuit in
> either the starter solenoid, the neutral switch or the ignition switch (I
> think). After driving the car for 20-30 miles and shutting it off, if I
> then try to restart it the solenoid won't activate. If I come back in few
> hours it will start. When it won't start there is no movement of the
> ammeter indicating an open circuit. The battery checks out O.K. in a load
> test. The alternator is putting out 14+ volts and charging the battery.
>
> I know *how* to diagnose the problem, I'm just too old and arthritic to
> crawl under the dash or to get the car up on jack stands and get
> underneath.
>
> Any pointers to a shop that knows what they're doing would be appreciated.
