My car, Guy Fiero, is an automatic 1986 SE V6 2.8L that doesn't want to crank. From what I've gathered Fiero wiring is possessed and my car is no exception. It appears the previous owner was having similar issues because the car has a very new looking starter installed. I've managed to get the car to VERY WEAKLY sort of crank twice out of about 50 tries, but most of the time when I get in the car and turn the ignition switch this is what happens: dash lights turn on and the fuel pump whirs, when I push the key to start the car I hear an audible (single) click inside the cabin, and then the brake light on the dash turns on until I disengage the switch.

When I get under the car with a multimeter the starter is getting a constant >12.5V from the battery (same as when I touch the multimeter leads directly to the contacts on the battery) and around 11V from the ignition switch and accessory box cold start injector when the key is turned. Is voltage drop normal here? In both of these cases I'm using the casing/mounting bolts of the of the starter as the ground for the leads.

When I move the shifter to reverse, the reverse lights turn on. I assume between that and the fact my starter solenoid is getting at least some power from the ignition switch means my neutral safety switch is working? I've tried starting the car in both park and neutral with no luck.

Basic troubleshooting I've done with no effect:

• bought and installed brand new battery (dated 9-2018) and battery cables
• tested the battery at the auto parts store and had it stuck on a charger at the store, it all came out good
• had the starter tested at the auto parts store and it was good
• cleaned contact points and connectors involving starter solenoid
• tightened connections between ignition switch and battery on starter
• added a ground wire between the engine and the battery tray
• sprayed contact cleaner down the key hole of my ignition switch

I'm not fully sure where to go from here, any miracle solutions out there for my problem? Anything else to test?

Things I'm planning to try systematically but have no clue if they will work:

• replace fusible link on wire that goes to starter from accessory box
• replace ignition switch
• replace neutral safety switch
• have car exorcised by a priest

edit: I searched the forum for starter issues but couldn't really find a single solution that fit my problem, please let me know if I missed a good thread.

[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-21-2018).]

Are you certain that you are getting a good ground? Sorry, I had to ask because a lot of times what appears to be a good connection is not. The Fiero is very sensitive to found issues.

Another question, what is your battery voltage when attempting to crank the car? I recently had an issue with my battery that had good voltage when static but fell on its face when attempting to crank. The battery tested good on a standard test but failed a deep load test.

Pull the spark plugs, turn crank with wrench on harmonic balancer bolt to ensure it's not stuck.
There is no fusible link between starter and Battery Junction Terminal (accessory box?) under the C500 connector.
The fusible link at the starter on an 86 is the power feed to the Cold Start Injector. The wire after the fusible link segment should be purple with a white stripe.

quote Originally posted by Cajun: Are you certain that you are getting a good ground? Sorry, I had to ask because a lot of times what appears to be a good connection is not. The Fiero is very sensitive to found issues. Another question, what is your battery voltage when attempting to crank the car? I recently had an issue with my battery that had good voltage when static but fell on its face when attempting to crank. The battery tested good on a standard test but failed a deep load test.

I'm not seeing signs of intermittent ground with a multimeter or a test light, but that doesn't mean they're not there. I already hit the ground point on the top back of the engine where the battery ground and the deck lid hinge ground are mounted with sandpaper and pb blaster, but that might not have been enough. The back side and bottom of the engine are incredibly grimy. When I get home from work, I guess I'll try take a wire wheel to the ground point to it and see if that helps any, and I can try to replace the nut that mounts the ground wire/strap back there and the bolt on the battery box with shiny new ones. Beyond that and adding the strap to the battery box I'm at a loss for giving it a "good ground".

That's part of the reason I took my new battery back to the parts store to get it tested, I wanted to make sure it worked under a load. I'll try to figure out how much it's doing when I get the starter reinstalled and deep clean the grounds tonight.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Pull the spark plugs, turn crank with wrench on harmonic balancer bolt to ensure it's not stuck. There is no fusible link between starter and Battery Junction Terminal (accessory box?) under the C500 connector. The fusible link at the starter on an 86 is the power feed to the Cold Start Injector. The wire after the fusible link segment should be purple with a white stripe.

My bad for confusing where that fusible link went. Now that I think about it that was pretty dumb. I know just enough to be dangerous, lol. Part of the reason I bought this car is to learn how to do this stuff properly, and I appreciate the help.

So the wires that go to the starter solenoid are: 1) Battery Wire 2) wire that connects to the ignition switch 3) wire that connects the starter to the cold start injector which has the fusible link.

Even if that fusible link is fubar, it shouldn't stop the engine from attempting to crank, right?

Also, 2 & 3 should be mounted together to the same ring terminal (that's how they were when I bought the car)?

edit: The harmonic balancer cranks by hand without issue.

[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-21-2018).]

2&3 go to the small terminal on solenoid.

I just remembered that my 86 SE would not crank unless I had a ground from the starter mounting bolts to the lower frame rail. I do t know why that was, but that was the case with that car.

No miracle needed. Thanks for pointing me back to the basics. I got the car to run for the first time last night. It needs a boatload of TLC and is still having some ignition problems, but I'm really excited!

So, what did I do? Apparently I did what I should have done in the first place. I checked the battery cables thoroughly, read the wiring diagram for the starter until I understood it, meticulously went through the wiring going to the starter, redid old splices, replaced oxidized ring connectors with new "weatherproof" ones, and added a ground strap between the engine and the battery box. I see more ground straps in my future. The wire brush on my drill did wonders at removing dirt and oxidation from the contact points, nuts and bolts. I also replaced nuts and bolts whenever possible that were associated with the ground connections with shiny new properly sized automotive ones.

HOWEVER, the biggest issue which I honestly didn't notice when I first removed the starter was that it was not mounted properly, and I imagine that played a big role in preventing it from being grounded and working. It looks like the previous owner had taken a trip to Shamrock Logo Parts Store and spent $150+ on a new starter. For God knows what reason he decided to use the bolts and shim from the original starter. The original bolts were nasty, covered in soot/dirt/corrosion, and they wouldn't go all the way back into the bolt holes. He had solved this problem by using oversized nuts as washers so he wouldn't have to screw the old bolts all the way back in. I imagine that might have worked at first, but vibrations from the engine probably worked the starter loose? I took my own trip to the Shamrock Parts Store and spent $10 on new shims and starter bolts. When I got home, I went into the house and got my gun cleaning kit and ran a wire brush coated in PB Blaster up the mounting holes to remove the nastiness. After that, the starter mounted without any issue.

I guess the moral of the story is if you're going to spend $150 on a brand new starter, you might as well spend $10 more on some damn starters bolts that aren't covered in nastiness.

edit: fixed typos, and here's a video of the car running for the first time

[This message has been edited by wwcvel (edited 09-24-2018).]