Need an expert mechanic on older cars...?

Question

My 67 impala (ss w/ac) will not start after it has been either run or the stereo was on.. i have to jump it and even after i do and let it run for a while to charge the battery when i try to restart it it wont turn over... the alt. works and i replaced the wires that go to the starter.. got a heavy duty starter.. replaced the ignition replaced parts on the distributor and it didnt fix anything... i have no clue as to why this is happening...

and the battery is new..i actualy have 2 for my sound system which was pro. installed (connections checked also)

starter and batteries checked. replaced starter anyway (was checked before install)...

grounded. connections are clean (new wires to starter) will not turn over at all.. sometimes i hear a faint click

its not that saftey feature (n switch)...is grounded...

Answer 1

might be the battery. sometimes old batteries will not take a charge or will only hold a charge for a few minutes. if car runs fine after jumpstart then probably is not alternator, however there is an old shade tree trick to test it. with car runnong remove the ground cable from battery, if car dies then is alternator. do not remove positive because it could result in blown fuses. good luck.

Answer 2

This is how I would tackle this problem. Use an OHM meter to check the alternator first. Step 1: Disconnect the battery cables. Step 2: Set your volt meter to OHMs and touch the two volt meter test leads together to check the meter. You should see continuity, you will have either a number reading or if analog, the needle will peg to the right. Next, disconnect the wiring from the alternator, place one lead onto the alternator output connection and the other lead to the housing of the alternator itself. If you have continuity at this point, then you have a alternator that has a shortage to ground. Basically, instead of the voltage being produced by the alternator going back to the battery, it is going to ground through the housing of the alternator. You can not have 12 volts coming from the alternator being shorted to ground. Next, if this checks out, do the same thing to your starter. i know that it is new, but a new one can still be bad. A alternator and starter will still function seemingly normal and have a short to ground at the same time. If this does not check out, do a voltage output test from your alternator. Reassemble the wiring, take a volt reading from the battery and memorize it. (Place the red voltmeter lead on the POS battery post and the Black voltmeter lead on the NEG battery post. Start the car (jump may be required) and take a second reading. (Make sure the jumper cables are not attached at this point. The volts should be around 12.5 to 14 volts. If the battery reading is 12 volts before starting and then goes to 13-14 when running, then your alternator is charging. If all of this checks out, then you will have to check across your fuse box and find out which circuit is shorting out. The worst case is that your wiring harness has a shortage in it, quite possible in the engine wiring harness. Checking the fuse box circuits allows you to figure out which electrical system is shorting out, and you can trace back the wiring on that system only.

From what you have posted, I truly believe the alternator is shorting out or is simply refusing to give a full charge. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

I believe 67 had the old style voltage regulator with energized coils instead of the diodes in the Alt. If the field was weak or a coil was burnt then you wouldn't get a "High" output. Also check the fan belt for being tight. Some of those old "V" belts really had to be tight and if I hadn't seen a before and after on a voltmeter I wouldn't have believed that the belt was slipping.
I would still suspect that you have a new installed equipment that was wired backwards and draws current with engine off if the charging system checks out.

Answer 4

That's an older car,does your amp gauge shows it's charging,if not then do what one person said about removing the neg cable while it's running,if it stops it could be your alternator or regulator,to check your regulator,run a wire from the positive output of your alternator and touch the field wire or F wire output of your regulator,your gauge should show a charge when you touch it,if it does,you need a regulator
if you hear a faint click,sounds like your starter solenoid,have someone get behind the steering wheel and turn on the head lights,then tell them to start the car,if it makes your lights go almost off,you might need a starter

Answer 5

It sounds like you have tried everything else so try this, move the shifter to N and if it starts the N switch is bad, Try the starter fuse as well as the starter connections, try the ground to body because on the older cars a ground is needed from the engine to the body. Good Luck and GOD Bless

Answer 6

You didn't mention if it turns over or not.
Are the cable ends clean ? both ends of both cables
Is the body grounded to the battery ? smaller wire coming off the battery ground usually to the finder or radiator support. (needed for the voltage regulator and lights )
From what little info it sounds like the battery may be bad , it may have the volts but not the amps to do the job
The voltage regulator could be bad and not telling the alt. to charge (bad ground could cause this too) reg. should be on the radiator support or fender

Answer 7

i had a 67 firebird that did the same thing...even sometimes it wouldn't crank if the doors were open/dome lights were on. It needed to be 12.6 or more volts to crank. It finally took a new ground wire battery to block and one block to firewall and all is well. the old ones looked perfect. Have someone hold the key on and use some jumper cables from the battery to the block and chassis.

Answer 8

Sounds like the battery is dead. In a standard type of battery, it is made up of lead plates that are positively and negatively charged. If one or more drops, your battery will be shot. I would suggest forking out the money for a Gel-Cell battery, like Optima. You won't run into that problem anymore. They are not "Super-Batteries" and are succeptable to most other battery problems, but they are better than standard batteries in many ways.

Answer 9

I think scottman has it. You can try this. Hook up the black jumper wire to your battery negative, then hook the other end to a good hunk of metal on the engine. See if it starts.

The engine to chassis ground wire is overlooked sometimes when the car gets a rebuild.

Answer 10

Youre battery is shot.Take the caps off the battery and look in each hole.If 1 of them is milky it means get a new battery.If you want you can take the battery to almost any auto parts store and they can check and tell you if its bad or not