1st Breakdown
- Thread starter Adtheman
- Start date
Jack Cooper
Well-known user
All I can do is offer sympathy, Adam - doesn't sound too serious if it's starter-motor related. As Rich says, hope you resolve the problem quickly.
J.C. (1911)
J.C. (1911)
antijam
CCCUK Member
So sorry to hear that, though I must admit I thought you brave to drive an old unknown car for the first time on the long trip home. (When I bought mine I collected it from the seller 120 miles away - on a flatbed, despite his protestations that it was up to any trip.) Problem could be relatively simple, like the ignition inhibitor switch on the clutch - mine sometimes requires a good few prods on the pedal before allowing the starter to engage.
Hopefully you'll get it sorted soon.
Hopefully you'll get it sorted soon.
Corvetteville
CCCUK Member
Really sorry to hear about your no start problem. Mines a 78 auto & I had the same intermittent issue, especially when the engine was hot. There's a block connector on the bulkhead, which had bad connection between the key & starter. Wire still in place but barely touching. Hope that helps. Steve
Adtheman
CCCUK Member
Antijam you are a legend rolled it off the transporter pumped the clutch 2 times and she roared into life . Happy again
Forrest Gump
CCCUK regional rep
It could be the clutch safety switch but your scenario was typical of the starter motor heat soak problem that C3's are prone to...... You'd driven the car at speed for a long spell then when you stop for ten minutes to fill-up, the heat from the engine over-heats the solenoid and it won't even click when you try and start it again. Wait another ten minutes and it will likely start again. You probably could have bump-started it though.
A lot of manual cars have had the safety switch over-ridden when the switch went wrong decades earlier. Check if the car starts without depressing the clutch?
BTW I broke down twice trying to get my car home when I bought it. Don't worry about it - it's how we learn about these cars.
A lot of manual cars have had the safety switch over-ridden when the switch went wrong decades earlier. Check if the car starts without depressing the clutch?
BTW I broke down twice trying to get my car home when I bought it. Don't worry about it - it's how we learn about these cars.
Daytona Vette
Well-known user
Hi Adam
Sorry to hear that you did not have a clear run - the most common issue for a dead starter motor when hot is exactly as Andy (Forrest Gump) states above, the starter motor is near the header / exhaust manifolds, if you are changing the starter motor, you could go for a smaller (more powerful) unit called a "High Torque" as these generally will have the solenoid a little further away from the heat source, but the most important benefit would be to install an aluminium Heat Shield between the solenoid and the exhaust, do not use a Heat Blanket.
Best of Luck!
Sorry to hear that you did not have a clear run - the most common issue for a dead starter motor when hot is exactly as Andy (Forrest Gump) states above, the starter motor is near the header / exhaust manifolds, if you are changing the starter motor, you could go for a smaller (more powerful) unit called a "High Torque" as these generally will have the solenoid a little further away from the heat source, but the most important benefit would be to install an aluminium Heat Shield between the solenoid and the exhaust, do not use a Heat Blanket.
Best of Luck!
Chuffer
CCCUK regional rep
Hi Adam ,
I am a bit late to the party but real sorry to hear about your first experience with your dream car
. As some of the guys have said , it may well be just the dreaded `heat soak` gremlins affecting the starter motor . I guess your car has the original starter or at least OEM replacement . I had regular problems with mine when it got hot and caused quite a few embarrasing moments until it really cooled down . As Daytona said , fit a light weight high torque starter like I did . They are half the weight of original , half the size giving more air gap between it and the block and exhaust and spin the engine over more easily with less battery drain. For belt and braces I also wrapped the exhaust to cut down heat transfer . Fingers crossed for some fun motoring now
I am a bit late to the party but real sorry to hear about your first experience with your dream car
. As some of the guys have said , it may well be just the dreaded `heat soak` gremlins affecting the starter motor . I guess your car has the original starter or at least OEM replacement . I had regular problems with mine when it got hot and caused quite a few embarrasing moments until it really cooled down . As Daytona said , fit a light weight high torque starter like I did . They are half the weight of original , half the size giving more air gap between it and the block and exhaust and spin the engine over more easily with less battery drain. For belt and braces I also wrapped the exhaust to cut down heat transfer . Fingers crossed for some fun motoring now 
Roscobbc
Moderator
This might seem an odd response but it was probably good that you 'broke down' so to speak. Its all too easy to forget that these are vehicles approaching 50 years of age and we can perhaps get complacent about reliability compared with modern vehicles. Better you found out about a fairly typical issue affecting C3's when you were in a situation where you were hopefully not too inconvenienced (like in the middle of a rainy evening somewhere out in the boondocks. Hope you didn't have to wait too long for the recovery service (my last and only one in the C3 was 5 hour wait......) You'll probably remember (if there is a next time) that one of the advantages of a manual is that you can 'bump start' it. My suggestion to you is to check out your battery capacity. Check out the battery connections. Check out the connections to the starter and solenoid. Look for dodgy connections and frayed cable. The 'hot' wire from battery to starter assembly is quite a long run - the cable isn't of a particularly thick gauge and will get hot with repeated cranking and must have quite a high internal resistance.