1992 pontiac firebird. 3.1L. Trying to determin if my positive battery cable is bad. Or if the starter is bad.. need a little advice.
Asked by Dave Jan 22, 2015 at 02:19 PM about the 1992 Pontiac Firebird Base
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Is the starter on a 1992 pontiac firebird. The
power source to the whole car..i drove my car
earlier this morning.. but when i went out 2
hours later it clicked and then lost all power to
the car.. so then i looked at the starter pushed
down on the battery wire and the car started
up.. both are pricey parts so im trying to
narrow it down to one thing.. any advice would
help.. thanx
5 Answers
The starter is fine, it started when it got good contact. The main 1/0 cable goes to the solenoid, and when the key is turned the solenoid makes the connection for the higher amperage that the small wires from the ignition switch cannot carry. You might try taking the big wire off the starter solenoid and clean and tighten it. (Where you pushed on it) If that does not fix it, there may be a break in the wire between the cable and the terminal, eye-bolt, that you can't see. Or take jumper cables and hook one up to the battery and the other end to solenoid where existing 1/0 cable goes (NOT directly to starter side) and see if it starts. If it does, you need a new cable. Be safe! In case you accidentally hook the jumper to the wrong side it might try to start, be sure it's in Park, and if it's a manual you might need a helper to push in the clutch.
Afterthought..unless you mean you pushed on the cable at the battery. If so, what I wrote is wrong. Clean both battery terminals and tighten, including where the Black 1/0 Neg- grounds to frame or chassis.
Its done this before and the cable was loose to the starter so i tightened it.. that was 4 months ago.. its 100 a piece for the parts.. the cablr is 76` long..just trying to narrow it down so i dont have to by both... the is running now.. so i can by some time
Ford nut.. u are the one that assisted me last time.. (4 months ago) when this problem happened.. dandy was trying to help me as well.
