starter and oil pressure issue :(

[MrMarty51]

Also check if there is excess fuel in the oil.
Sometimes them mechanical fuel pumps will go bad and pump a lot of fuel into the crankcase,thinning the oil and not lubricating the internals as it should,thus,creating excess heat and low oil pressure.
If this condition does,in fact exist,then,it will create excessive wear on bearings,camlobes,cylinders,etc.sometimes even comes off as white smoke out the tail pipe.
Pressure/vacuum guage will tell You what You needs to know about Your fuel pump,that and a "Flow" test.
I`m thinking,but it seems like the avereage fuel pressure should be around 8 PSI,but,it has been a very long time and I do`n rememers like I used toooooo.

 

[travisr1988]

Well, my starter issue has struck again. It's 65° out and I stopped at a gas station to grab a drink and when I went to start my truck not even a click. Radio, lights everythong else works great, although I did notice the temp gauge went from normal to hot when I tried to start it. It was normal when I parked.

 

[HotRodPC]

Not even a click? Battery Terminals, Clean and Tighten them.

 

[chengny]

The primary power circuit section of the starter/solenoid system (i.e. the main cable from battery to starter and battery negative to a good engine ground) has been eliminated as the problem.

Reference post # 8:
Both cables have been replaced, solenoid and battery have also been replaced.

The next step is to check the control circuit:

The ignition switch is getting power - as evidenced by normal operation of auxiliaries (radio, etc) - so supply to it can be assumed OK.

Check for proper switch operation (flow through the switch) by testing for voltage at the next component in the circuit. That will be the neutral safety switch mounted on the steering column (or the clutch interlock switch on the clutch pedal arm - if it's a manual transmission). There should be a yellow wire leading from the ignition switch and down to it. There should also be a purple wire leading away from the switch.

With the transmission in PARK and the key held in the START position, check for 12VDC at the yellow wire and also at the purple wire.

If you find that there is power to the purple lead; that indicates that both the ignition switch and the neutral safety/clutch interlock switch are okay.

Power at the yellow but not at the purple means a good ignition switch - bad neutral switch.

After that check, locate the other end of the purple wire where it attaches to the "S" (or "R") terminal on the solenoid.

Do the test again as described above.

No voltage at the "S" terminal indicates a break in the purple wire somewhere between the neutral switch and the solenoid.

Chase it down and repair. This is a low amperage circuit, so a properly done butt splice would suffice.

However if you find 12VDC at the "S" terminal, it means the entire control circuit is good.

Time to break the ol' wallet open and by a new starter.

Download and reference the attached schematics for more info. I marked them up to help you follow the wires, but could not get any color other than gray :

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[travisr1988]

I bought a heatshield for it as it is missing and this seems to be a common issue, my dad refers to it as heat soak, said put a heat shield on it and it should stop giving me issues. I will check all the above anyway just to be certain. Thank you for the info.

 

[travisr1988]

Well, I'm buying a new starter it looks like. The heat shield seemed to solve the issue of not a sound, but now it growls until I let off the key and turn it again and it then starts fine. However, at the gas station today it behaved as it did when the starter got hot, but with the wrap on it it didn't feel hot and didn't start until I smacked teh starter housing a couple times. So it looks like I'm getting a new starter, I'll see about insulating the new one as well just to be sure I don't get any heat soak issues later on.

 

[89Suburban]

Yap, sounds like a good move. I had good luck with the Autozone starter for mine.

 

[travisr1988]

And it gets better with a cold snap. Well, this morning it ran very well, but around lunch time it started running terribly and I mean really bad. It wouldn't idle, it sounded pathetic and I was told by a coworker it was pushing black smoke out of the tailpipe, however that coworker is known to exaggerate. After work another coworker who has a '78 chevy lent a hand, as it turns out my misadjusted choke that hasn't worked at all over the winter decided it would start working, so we adjusted it and the truck ran beautifully albeit the idle was as high as it was originally when we tried to adjust the choke to lower the idle in the fall. Ok, whatever it runs good now we'll leave it at that, he left to go home to his wife and baby. As soon as he left the parkinglot my truck died in gear after 30 seconds of being in gear, literally when I decided it was clear to move and let off the brake it stalled. Ok, I'll start it again right? Wrong! It cranked and cranked but would not start. So I figured it could be flooded, I'd leave it be for a few minutes and try again...Wrong! Still cranked but no start. hmmm...I called my dad to ask what I can do to get home (how I can get this damn truck started and running long enough to get home), he told me to look down the carb and see if there's gas pooled up, sure enough there is. Ok, so I need to rebuild the carb I guess...again. So I held the gas pedal to the floor to get it started, it started but died off after running for mere seconds (and terribly at that). So, I decided since things got better then worse when I messed with the choke I'd mess with it again. So I messed with the choke again and held teh gas pedal down and started it, this time I was able to keep it running and it ran good again. Choke is now at about 1/2" open on the blade. Check the tailpipes...gray smoke...great, that can't be good.


So what did I do wrong?
How do I fix the issues?
What does gray smoke mean?
Can I drive it to and from work for 3 more days before fixing it?

 

[HotRodPC]

Is it possible you flooded it before you reset the choke the first time and had the float bowl loaded up heavy? And now it might be OK? 1 or more Spark plugs may be fouled or semi fouled from being flooded, or depending how rich it was with the choke set tight, could have some soot on the plugs. But if gas fouled or soot fouled that should burn off fairly quick after it has sat overnight and been allowed to dry out a bit. Maybe it'll be better this morning.

 

[travisr1988]

Hotrod, you may be right. It's running better now and only has trouble for the first minute when I start it cold.

 

[travisr1988]

Update: Got a new starter, installed it (thing weighs a ton when you're holding it up for awhile), and now it whines while cranking...so I had to go back and get shims because apparently they aren't included with a new starter. Starts everytime so far. I'm gonna advance the timing to 12* and retune the carb via vacuum gauge again since I'll be changing the timing and hopefully that'll fix the issues for good, and hopefully my mileage and performance will go back up.

 

[travisr1988]

Starter issue was resolved with new starter.

Oil pressure issue isn't as bad since I bumped my timing to 12* and messed with the carb (idle in park ~800. drive ~650) against my dad's instructions to leave timing and carb alone. seems to run quite a bit better, not like it used to 6 months ago, but better than it was recently.