sixpack_sid

I have an '81 Camaro that I am trying to get running. When I started it, there was a lot of smoke at the battery and the ground wire to the body burnt off. I crawled underneath it and pulled the starter out and saw that the starter is cracked where it goes into the dust pan. The whole top end is broken off. Could this be the cause of the problem? I did put a ratchet on the front of the motor and the flywheel does turn, so I'm assuming the motor is not seized. Any input would be helpful as I would like to get this car running for my 15 yr old son.
Thanks!

Mike Sigmond

Has it been sitting for a while? Id go with a full tune up. oil, plugs, dist cap, etc... and a battery cable from what you described. Pictures say a 1000 words, have any?

Koffietje

Let your 15 year old son solve the problem. At least that way he'll appreciate what he has and wont park it IN a tree.
But then again, thats just my educationaly advise.

There's a lot that needs to be done before re-using an old car. First of all you need to empty the gas tank and if possible clean it out as well as possible. Then you need to clean the gas pump as well , since there's always some gas left in it.
Next thing to do is replace the fuel filter. It'll probably be glogged up shut so it 'll be unable to deliver the gas. If possible, clean out the hoses as well.
When you keep following the hoses, eventually you'll end up at the carburator. Remove it and open it up. Clean it all up thoroughly. (Or better even...replace it with a new one). If the carb isnt clean, then all your work will be for naught.
All this is about a 10 hour job. (and you' ll learn an awfull lot about the car).

Then replace the plugs, the plug caps , the plug wires AND the rotor. It sounds expensive, but all with all, in belgium it costs about 200 euro. (No idea in America...). Make sure you replace it all with the SAME kind of wires, plugs, ... . This is a 4 hour job.

Pull out the battery as well and replace it with a new one. Then check the air filter and replace it as well. (ITs only 10 dollars or something for a new one...).

Check the exhaust pipe from start to finish to see if you find any holes. Weld them or replace whatever is too broken to weld. Also check if the euhm...(bloody hell...what do you call that anoying part that keeps the ozon layer from diminishing????) isnt broken. You can do that once the car runs. If you hear the sound of a porcelain closet being shaken, then your ozon-layer-anti-diminishing thing is broken.

remove all oil from the engine. Replace it with half synthetic motor oil. (Because you cant guess what oil the previous owner used, half synthetic is your best choice). Also, dont forget to replace the oil filter.
Next thing is the water. Underneath your radiator(s? ) there is a way of letting the water run out of it. (most likely a small tap). You will probably laugh at this, but once all the water is out, poor in a good amount (about 50 liters) of clear water AND vinaigre (about 2 glasses of vinaigre per bucket of water) through the water reservoir and let it sip out through the tap on the bottom. It's a cheap way of cleansing the radiators (allthough it smells horrible). The vinaigre will remove any chalk that settled in your radiators. (not sure how many radiators you have, but some cars have 2 of them , to cool the gearbox).
Then fill up the radiators again with water AND cooling fluid (check the label for correct amounts).

Oh ...dont worry, there 's still some work to be done...
Next thing, if you have an automatic gear box, remove the pan, the filter and oil and replace the oil filter and oil with new ATF2 oil. (check your manual to know exactly how much oil you need to pour in).
And then there's the starter. Remove the starter and tear it completely apart (I usually take pictures while taking stuff apart. That way i still remember how to put it back to gether). Clean it all up without using water or oil. So just take a clean wrap and polish it . Carefull with the inside, because a metallic splinter can hurt like hell ! Put it back together , connect the battery. If the starter is too messed up replace it with a new one.

This is what basically needs to be done with a car that has been still for TOO long (too long is anything longer then a year, if you ask me).
If , after all this work, the car still wont start...then we can continue looking for any problem. If you havent done ALL of this before, then there's really no point in asking our help. (sorry if this sounds kind of harsh ).

If you dont do all this...then someone will simply advise you to replace the starter and the wiring. And it might run fine for 4 days. But then you'll suddenly notice that the sparks are glogged, or you will find out that no fuel runs to your engine and all of the sudden the starter will be malfunctioning again... so eventually you'll just end up in a never ending story of replacing part by part in order to keep the car running.
What I'm proposing is a lot of work and an extra boost of money in it, but I can assure you that it'll save you a lot of money in the long run.

therewolf

While I have to agree with the last two posts in spirit, I think the OP wants to get the car running FIRST...

A shorted starter could give you that kind of a burn-up, but check polarity of everything VERY carefully. IF your polarity is wrong, the battery is going 'splodie next...

Absolutely replace the starter & solenoid...

Then bear in mind that the old starter got that way for a reason; refer back to posts 1 & 2.