Before you buy any parts, try to bypass the starter relay. On an Imperial,
it is on the firewall just outside of the brake booster. My guess is that
the 'doba will have it in the same place, or nearby. It will be the square
electrical box with 6 or 7 wires going into it. Find the heavy one that
goes down to the starter, and run a separate wire directly to that terminal.
That should make your starter crank - if it does, you've narrowed down the
problem to either the relay itself or the logic that enables it. Next, get
someone to try the key while you listen to the relay. If you hear a click,
the relay is bad. NAPA has them, for around $30. If you don't hear a
click, the problem is in either the ignition switch, the neutral safety
switch, or the wiring to one of those items. To start the car, turn on the
key and use the bypass wire mentioned first above - drive it out in the
daylight and finish your trouble shooting with a test light. If you don't
have an FSM for the car, e-mail me directly and I'll tell you what color
wire should have which signal on it (at least for an '81, which is probably
the same).
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: Neal Herman <chrycordoba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 6:34 PM
Subject: IML: non-starting '83
> My Imperial's little sister has conked out, in about the worst possible
place. I put my '83 Cordoba in the underground apartment garage I use to
store the Imperial and Riviera, when I took the Riv to Chicago on a road
trip last week. When I returned on Monday, the Cordoba wouldn't start. The
lights, radio, clock, windows, etc. work fine. When I turn the key there's
one click, and no other life. It doesn't try to turn over at all. I tried
jump starting it with the Riv, and with a charger box that a friend has, and
tried in park and in neutral. I moved the shift lever back and forth too.
Nada. The car has 156,000 miles, and the battery is exactly 5 years old.
It has given no indication it's failing, and if it was, then why do the
lights work? I suspect the starter, but have also heard from friends that
it could be a ballast resistor or a neutral safety switch, which I had to
replace in the Imperial two months ago. Do I have these in this car, with a
318 cid v-8?
>
> Trying to get the Cordoba out of the garage will be a real b**ch, with a
curving driveway up an incline, and a couple of turns and forward/reverses
to get it out. She's my daily driver, and I really have to stop using the
classic, show-car Riviera for commuting. Any thoughts, guys and gals?
>
> Neal Herman
> 1959 Imperial Crown
> 1972 Buick Riviera
> 1983 Chrysler Cordoba
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