noiseordinance

Hi there. I have an old car question... I'm hoping this is an good forum for such a thing.

My mother in law came to visit us today, and upon leaving, her 1967 Chevy Malibu wouldn't start. She lives about 60 miles away and has a mechanic she goes with at home, and said she'll just get it towed, but I really don't want her to shell out several hundred to do that. I convinced her to leave it at my place and I'll try to figure something out over the next week.

Basically, when I turn the key, the dash lights come on, but the engine doesn't turn over or make a make a peep. She tells me that the ignition switch has been kinda fussy over the past year, and has felt sorta sticky, and has required extra finesse to start it.

She insisted on replacing the battery today, but alas, a new battery did not rectify the situation.

In my inexperience, I'd guess that her ignition switch has gone bad, but perhaps this could be a bad starter or solenoid. From what I've seen, this might require opening the steering column, which sounds rather difficult. If possible, I'd like to figure out a way to hotwire the ignition so that I can at least start it and help her get it back home to her mechanic and avoid a hefty tow fee. I've seen some videos of people touching solenoid bolts with a screwdriver to start a car, but I have no idea where the solenoid would be on this car.

Can anyone lend advice on how to hotwire this, or if troubleshooting is easy enough, any pointers on how to troubleshoot the problem? I have a good amount of tools, jacks, digital multimeter, a creeper, etc.

Thanks tremendously for any suggestions.

Rednucleus

Have someone hold the key in the start position and you give the starter a good rap with a hammer. Bet you a quarter it starts. My 68 El Camino & 93 Suburban have done this more than once. When she gets back home have her mechanic replace the starter.
Red

noiseordinance

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but where is the starter even located on this thing?

Rednucleus

Assuming a V8, it's on the passenger side, can get to it crawling under just in front of the front right wheel. Follow the positive battery cable to it.

Richard Till

Two inch in diameter solenoid is mounted on top of starter. There are two or three electrical post on the solenoid. Take a screwdriver and short out the smaller post on the outside to the big post in the middle. Switch doesn`t have to be on. If the starter engages, you have an ignition problem. If your started solenoid has a small post to the inside, ignore it. It`s only purpose is to provide the positive side of the coil with battery voltage during the crank mode. It only has voltage when the solenoid is engaged.

noiseordinance

Hey there, thanks for the replies. So I got under the car and verified current to the solenoid, but the ignition switch does not seem to provide current when in the on position. So I took a 20 gauge wire and ran it from the starter to the positive terminal on the battery. The starter spins, but does not engage. I looked under the car at the starter while my wife touched the wire to the positive battery terminal, and indeed the starter sprocket does spin, but doesn't jump out to engage the flywheel. I tapped the starter a few times with a hammer and nothing. Does this mean the starter is bad and simultaneously the ignition circuit is also bad? Or is there a chance I'm not doing something correctly to hotwire this?

Rednucleus

Solenoid should only be energized with key in the full right turn "start" position, not in the "run/on" position. Otherwise it would be constantly engaging the flywheel. Did you put power to the starter or the solenoid. Need to trigger the solenoid to engage the flywheel. Just verifying when you hit the starter, was she holding key all the way to the right in the start position?

noiseordinance

Hmm, crap, that's a good call. So I would have needed to have someone sit in the car and attempt to start it while simultaneously checking the multimeter for power.... is that right? That I didn't do.

As for the starter, I basically wired the positive battery directly to the starter lead that is bridged to the solenoid... I didn't realize the solenoid acted to engage the starter... I thought it was basically just to relay power from the ignition switch to the solenoid?

Rednucleus

Follow Richard's directions a few posts above

noiseordinance

Got it hotwired! I started from the solenoid instead of the starter, and bam... it worked! Thanks you guys!