whont start

[glwagonman]

i went to start my 1987 gl wagon today and when i turned the key all the lights came on and everything but it made no noise at all no starting noise and the battery is fine its been having trouble starting for the last two weeks

and i don't know what it could be so any help much appreciated

[cobcob]

i went to start my 1987 gl wagon today and when i turned the key all the lights came on and everything but it made no noise at all no starting noise and the battery is fine its been having trouble starting for the last two weeks

and i don't know what it could be so any help much appreciated

Problem most likely with your switch. do a search for relay and starter, you'll find a ton of info about wiring a relay in so you can start her up

[misledxcracker]

Put the key in the ON position. Unhook terminal connector in the back of the starter (no bolts, just pulls off) Get a piece of wire, hook it up to that terminal. Take other side of the wire, tap it on the positive terminal on the battery. Don't leave it on there, maybe for a second or so.

 

If the car starts, either rig up a switch to start, or do the starter/relay trick, though I don't know it.

[glwagonman]

ok thanks im going to try that stuff out:banana:

[hatchsub]

Its not hard at all to wire in a push button if your ignition is the culprit. If you would like to go that route all you have to do is send a wire from the positive battery post on the starter to the push button and from the spade connector on the starter to the push button. When you push the button all your doing is connecting those two points and your car will start as long as the key is in the ignition and turned to the start position.

[GeneralDisorder]

A relay is more professional and works like stock by using the existing switch. Personally I would never consider hacking in a push button - looks bad and smacks of a lack of electrical understanding.

 

GD

[hatchsub]

A relay is more professional and works like stock by using the existing switch. Personally I would never consider hacking in a push button - looks bad and smacks of a lack of electrical understanding.

 

GD

I dont really consider a Push button a hack job. I would consider it a simple way of solving a problem. There is not much to go wrong with a push button. Granted a Relay would return it closer to stock but either way you are still adding wires so I dont really see the difference. And the way i did it is clean. I dont appreciate you putting me down but to your benifit i dont like electronics or wiring for that matter but I do kno how to wire if need be.

 

Many cars have had push buttons through history. Checker's come to mind.

 

I dont have any problem with you disagreeing with me. My problems start when you put me down for doing something different than you.

[glwagonman]

so i tried the wire it worked after about 5 taps on the battery

 

and since i need the car running i just hooked up the switch i had for some lights that broke and i didn't really have to do anything cuz they where already hooked up and it looks fine and the car is runing! so im happy

 

Thank you All very much:banana:

[Gloyale]

A relay is more professional and works like stock by using the existing switch.

 

GD

 

However, the already failing switch is still relied upon. It can fail completely at a future point, and then you are stuck wiring a pushbutton to active the relay.

 

No relay is utilized for the factory switch, on these cars, and even on many newer cars. A direct, momentary contact switch, is excactly what is already being used.

 

With a fused 12v supply, with heavier gauge than stock wiring, there is nothing unproffesional about it.

 

Unfused it is a fire hazard waiting to happen. I hope the OP has a fuse on the power source.

[GeneralDisorder]

However, the already failing switch is still relied upon. It can fail completely at a future point, and then you are stuck wiring a pushbutton to active the relay.

 

Unlikely, and purely hypothetical. No one has reported that occuring. The tiny current of the relay won't produce the arcing or the high temperature's of the original circuit.

 

If you do a pushbutton, you are replacing the failed component with another of similar design which could ostensibly fail in the same manner as the original. A relay in either case would be best. If the original switch ceased to function then a momentary pushbutton could be added to the relay circuit. Low current, smaller wires, less potential for arcing and fires. That's what relays were created for.

 

It's not always the switch either - it's sometimes the switch connector that has melted, or in rare cases the circuit itself. I've run across both. The exact method of repair is going to depend on the specifics of the vehicle. But in all cases I prefer to keep the original switch if possible. It doesn't give me great confidence when I see wireing like this on cars I'm considering purchasing - wire nuts, electrical tape, and kludged in push buttons are signs that someone doesn't own a MM. I've personally drug people from buring cars due to electrical fires, and I deal with high-voltages and current on a daily basis.

 

GD

[Hondasucks]

My 82 4x4 sedan when I bought it, it had a pushbutton in it, but it was wired up such that it would only crank the starter if it was in Park and the key was on. (When I switched it to a 5 speed I re-wired it so it used the original starter circuit, instead of having house wiring running to the starter!)

Pushbuttons I don't consider a hack job unless it's done in a hack job manner, mine was nicely done, aside from the cheap wiring that was used, but I re-wired it (And now it has two toggle switches and a pushbutton, since the ignition key cylinder failed)

[misledxcracker]

Hell, mine won't start sometimes... Totally intermittent.

 

I have to jump the starter with a wire when this happens. Wire is stuck in between the terminal and connector on the starter, so I dont have to reconnect it every time she dont wanna go.

 

And I'd LOVE to figure out if I can fix it and leave it completely STOCK, no add of relays or pushbuttons or any of that other BS. I'd spend the $$$ to do it... just have NO clue where to start.

[lostinthe202]

My hatch had the same problem of a finicky key cylinder. I first tried buying one and got one for an '89 3-door instead of an '89 hatch (ea81, which requires I ask for parts from an '84, thanks GD). I wired in a momentary switch rated for more volts and amps then the car is capable of producing and used the same gauge wire as what was on the key cylinder and after confirming with a MM that voltage was getting as far as the cylinder, I cut and soldered into the battery and starter lines at the junction plug for the key cylinder and added a switch which I put into a hole in the dash that is plugged by the factory for some option I don't have, it's silver and looks quite spiffy and only gets used when the key doesn't want to work. I'm no wiring genius by any means, but I don't see the problem with doing this as long as you're using wire and switches that are as good or better then the stock stuff, right?

 

Will-

[hatchsub]

Yea i forgot to mention that i do have fuse inline with the battery terminal.

[glwagonman]

the switch i hooked up has an inline fuse and its has good wire so i think im good for now