Need help finding the problem with my car. I have been working on it for a couple weeks now but am not to mechanically inclined. I have a 1970 Mav with a stock 3.3L straight 6. Heres my story: I went out one morning to start my car to get it warmed up for work to find that i had left the stereo lights on over the weekend and had killed my battery. I was late for work already so i went ahead and took another car to work. That evening jumped started it and let it sit in the parking lot for a little while to charge the battery up. Then went out and drove it around for about 10 minutes, parked it and went inside. The next morning I came back out to start it for work and it wouldnt start. That evening I started messing with it to find that it wasnt getting any spark. I replaced the spark plugs, spark plug wires and the coil. I also cleaned the contacts on my distributor and rotor. This fixed the spark but it still wouldnt start. I discovered that the carburator wasnt regulating fuel. It was just dumping fuel regardless of how much I tried to give it with the accelerator. I assumed that this is what caused my plugs to foul and caused me to lose spark. I ordered a new carburator for it. After about 2 weeks and 4-5 tries I finally got in the right part, so I replaced it. By now my battery was dead again from trying to crank it so I jumped started it again. While adjusting the idle on the new carb I choked it out and killed it. I had to jump it again because it had only been a few minutes and of course the battery still wasnt charged. I let it sit about 15 minutes and tried to start it but it wasnt working. I tried for a little bit trying to start it, then letting it charge and finally gave up. I removed the battery and took it to work to charge it on an actual charger and to test it on a load tester. The battery tested bad, so I replaced it. Got me a brand new Optima battery. Now I tried to start it and just hear a grinding sound. I assumed that I had burnt out my starter solenoid while trying to crank it so i got a new one. I replaced it and got no change in my result. I attempted to tap on the starter with a rubber mallet due to a suggestion from a mechanic i talked to about it with no result. This is where i am stuck. Any suggestions? Or anyone want to buy this car so I dont have to mess with it anymore? lol
I would say that you burned up your starter. Change it out and then see if you can start it. Where are you located and how much would you want for your Mav if you sell it. If so I would like to have some pictures of it. I have a 69 1/2 and would like to build a set of twins. Let me know. Thanks Don
Currently Located in Oklahoma city, ill take some pictures of it tommorow to dark right now. Looking for about $2500 for it, would probaly let you have it for less if you come pick it up. Are you sure about the starter? I can hear the gears in the starter when attempting to start it. That was my first thought as well but im not to sure. Like i said before though, my mechanical knowledge isnt to great.
help hey if you left the key on you might as well change the points and condensor, if you leave the key on the points and cond. get power and will burn up thats probably why you are having such a hard time starting the car try this and I bet you will fix you problem with the hesitation starting.
Not sure what you mean by points and condenser... please explain. I didnt leave the key on though I had it with me. The stereo lights that were on are always on. I put a cd player in it soon after i got it and the lights on the faceplate are always on unless I take the faceplate off.
Face plate lights are not enough to run the battery down IMO. Sounds to me like you had a bad battery and should have replaced it first. The fact that you went through so many other things makes it hard to diagnose now. You broke the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule. By doing so you may have thrown something else out of whack and now must seek it out. I would start by going back through everything you touched since the face plate thing. Go through each and every thing you touched meticulously. Ask a friend or coworker that knows points to come and check yours. Either that or read up on it and do it. It's not rocket science, but it is old school and takes a certain touch to do them right. Good luck Dave
know what the distributor looks like? its the big round gimmick with the wires coming outta it. the points are in there, most likely toasted. any time a battery is left for dead(decharged to extremes) it may or may not return. the fact you only left your "stereo lights" on means little. the fact you had an open circuit on all night does mean something.make sure the ground is good(the negative off the battery).look at the ends of the battery cables..see anything looking green? cut off some wire and redo em if ya do, if ya got the money replace em. if you replaced the starter and battery, now look at the points. look at one variable at a time, its a process of elimination. it takes patience. . just move slow and think fast, this is one of those , its so simple its difficult problems, im sure. just my .02 wages
when the starter goes bad, it draws a lot of current from the battery and will fry the battery pretty quick.. replace the starter then get the charging system checked
put in an HEI they never go bad.....look em up on Ebay theyre relatively cheap throught there...or go to a wrecking yard ans find one.
When you replaced the starter solinoid. 1.Did you put all the wires back on where they belong. 2.did you leave any off?? 3.Did you clean up the fender apron where the solinoid mounts to insure you have a good ground?? 4.solinoid grounds through the fender apron via the 2 sheet metal screws that mount it. Your starter may have gone by by but I think you have a bad ground connection. check ALL connections between the battery/solinoid and starter.All contact points should be clean and free of corrosion and tight Make shure your battery is FULLY charged before you play some more(dont want to spike the voltage reg)Then you will have even more problems If you want to spin the starter to see if it turns(be careful now) you can jump(with good jumper cables)from the positive post on the battery to the big terminal on the starter(where the pos+ cable connects)if it spins fine you have a bad ground or a bad cable.If it still wont turn; pull the starter its jamed or cooked.When you do this dont spin it for more than a few seconds or you will cook it and remember you have 12 volts and however many cranking amps in your hand so dont touch anything other than the post on the starter with that jumper clamp or you will get an impromptu lesson in arc welding.Good luck hope this helps you.
