Re: IML: 60 Imperial-starter problem

[<dansgarage@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom....This is gonna sound a bit crazy, but I actually had to do this once to get a car (not an Imperial) running when it just 'STOPPED' ne evening when its owner was coming back from work, had made a few stops on the way home (like yourself) and then got nothing at all when turning the key. I was told (by an older mechanic guy) that sometimes the solenoid gear gets stuck ( if thats the right term) and when things cool down, like in your case, the car will start right up again....OR you can crawl under the car, hit the starter with a rubber mallet which will slightly 'jiggle' the solenoid gear and , if you're lucky, just start the car up immediately. Well, like I say, believe it or not, this is just what I did when my friend's car wouldn't turn-over when the key was turned. Actually, he didn't have a rubber mallet with him so I improvised with  two blocks of 2X4's. One on the starter case and the other to give it a little 'thunk' to wake it up. I know!....too hard a 'thunk' and you might break the case or something else inside but, in this case it worked like a charm!!! and I try to always remember to stick a medium size rubber mallet in the trunk along with the other tools necessary when driving a 40 year old car.
(sounds like a story from Readers Digest, I know, but it really did the job! ( and, less than 5 minutes after we got the car started and headed back to his house, the sky's opened up and it was rainign like crazy!!!)
...I sure wish I had paid attention to all the other things that mechanic had told me about!!
Dan Melnik
 
---- Tom Scott <shelbyguy@xxxxxxx> wrote: 

=============
I was out tooling around in my 60 Crown today running a few errands.  It was 
cool today, temp right around 70F.  The car ran perfectly throughout the day 
until the last stop.  I ran into the local WalMart to pick up some film I 
had developed and when I came out, she was dead.  The temp gauge never moved 
more than 1/3 of the way to hot the whole day.  I had stopped, parked and 
restarted the car 4 times within a span of about 20 minutes and had driven 
maybe 6 miles or so.  When I turned the key to start, nothing happened at 
all.  I ran through the pushbuttons figuring maybe the neutral switch was 
hung up or maybe the pushbuttons themselves.  Everything electrical worked 
at normal speed...windows, wipers, etc.  Dejectedly, I hoofed it on 
home...fortunately I was only a mile or so from home.  About an hour later I 
went back to the car, turned the key and she started right up.  The starter 
spun at normal revolutions.
Anybody got a clue as to what might have happened?  I'm thinking either the 
starter or solenoid overheated but starting the car 4 times in a half hour 
or so shouldn't overheat them.
There is no corrosion on either the battery or the starter.
Thanx
Tom
60 4 dr Crown Southampton 


-----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please 
reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be 
shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm




-----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please
reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be
shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm