Ignition/starter problem...?

[GRS72GT]

Well, I have a '72 GT that I got for free from my neighbor that over the past year has slowly been pieced back together (his son took it apart with hopes of dropping a bigger engine in...). I had it running just last week. Now, however, when I turn the key, I get nothing. No lights, starter doesn't engage, no power. I know it's not the battery, because it is a new battery and I hooked it up to a charger just to make sure. When the car was running, the ammeter light came on before the car started up, now there's nothing. I'm relatively new to Opels, and I don't know if it's the starter, a bad wire, or a bad connection. It's not the ignition switch either, because that is new as well, unless it went faulty... The only thing I can think of is the red wire that goes to the starter. Any other suggestions on what it could be?

[soybean]

It sounds like you've covered some of it already. Can you jumpstart it from the starter, (Large bolt with the Red wire to the terminal plug in)? If that works, you need to work backwards to the ignition. I'd also recommend an Ottostart to save the ignition. I think there are some here in the ad section for sale. A service manual and a copy of Destecs wiring diagram are also requisites. Do a search in the electrical section for problems like yours.
Weclome to the site and congratulations on your find. I'm sure others will chime in with other suggestions too. Hth, Jarrell

[namba209]

From your description. it sounds as though you lost a battery connection. Check the battery cables at both ends. They have to be clean and tight. Just a little bit of corrosion will stop tron flow. HTH.

[yellaopelgt]

I agree with Ron, you should probly replace the battery cables. They are OLD and if they are the originals, it might be time for a new set. I had a hot starting issue that was difficult to trace untill I finally just replaced them. Vibration and expansion from heat can lose your contacts. Its fairly cheap to replace them and saves a few headaches.
JMTCW,
Joe

[baronbors]

Don't forget the grounds- my problems all went back to dirty and corrosioned ground wires

[GRS72GT]

Hey, thanks for the advice. It turned out that my starter had been completely painted black. Literally, everything was black, all the connections. All it took was some wire brushing... Yeah, I felt stupid after I figured out what it was. But thanks anyway!

[bionic_chronik]

I bought a universal ignition switch from autozone and wired it to my opel gt, it cranked the engine for a little while then it quit working all together. Did I need to put a relay in there? Also I took a wire from positive side of coil and went to post which said ignition, I put a ballast resistor between it. Then tried to start car, it wouldn't start. I then went from the positive side of the coil directly to the battery, the car then started. What am I doing wrong?

[namba209]

Universal ignition switch? So I'm guessing yours is bad, or it just doesn't start the engine? If the one you have has a key and usually three positions, you need a hot wire from the battery to the switch, one to the accessory side and one to the start side. Here's how I would wire it up. For the battery connection, use one of the 4 studs in the center of the fuse panel preferrably on that does not have a Red/White wire on it. For the accessory/run position, run a 12 gage wire to the last fuse in the series of 3 fuses in the fuse panel. For starting, run a wire to the horizontal spade lug on the starter solenoid. And for the coil wire, you should be good with the clear resistor wire that is already there. Here's a couple of tips. You do NOT use the coil + terminal to power anything other than the coil, that's where the clear resistor wire goes and its purpose is to drop the voltage to the coil. If your ignition switch works o.k. for everthing except starting, you can send it to OGTS for a repair and rebuild, then get an OttoStart relay from "tekenaar" to save your switch from later problems. HTH.

[baronbors]

Originally Posted by namba209 You do NOT use the coil + terminal to power anything other than the coil, that's where the clear resistor wire goes and its purpose is to drop the voltage to the coil. HTH.

If there is no clear resistor wire, then you can buy a resistor block from
Auto Zone or other auto supply houses for about $10 and wire it inline

[bionic_chronik]

I am having a problem with the starter begin to engage then just spin.
took the starter out and took it to 2 parts stores and had them check it, they both said it was good. any one have any suggestions, iw ould appreciate the help. thankyou

[timemachine]

If the starter tests good as you say, it sounds like you may have some broken teeth on your flywheel. With the starter out you can inspect this visually. (If you have a manual transmission, you can put the car in second gear and shove the car from the front or back to inspect different parts of the flywheel.) While the starter is out, jump it directly with cables to make sure the solenoid thrusts and retracts the starter gear.

Jim

[bionic_chronik]

was hoping that would not be the case, when i 1st got the car it would crank over, but sometimes would make a loud clank noise, like possibly the flywheel,
but now it will start to crank then just spin out. the parts sotores said everything seems to be working on the starter. was wondering if the teeth on flywheel can all of sudden go from every once in while loud clanking noise and sometimes spinning out to what it is doing now?

[timemachine]

Yes, it happens. Just follow the steps I mentioned and you will know the cause.

Jim

[Dan-MI]

My GT acted similar. It would grind more than just spin freely. I had to have it towed home. When I climbed under and checked, the teeth on the flywheel looked fine. But it looked funny. The flywheel was a lot closer to the housing on one side than it was on the other. Turned out that the PO had had a cheap clutch replacement done and they had used soft bolts to hold the flywheel on. They just sheered off. Hope you have better luck than I did with this type of problem.

[bionic_chronik]

is it a big job to remove the transmission?

[DESTEC]

A problem you do not need unless you are at home with the car in the garage is to have the starter bendix malfunction. When the ignition switch is placed in the start position the starter spins at a high rate of speed, centrifugal force moves the spring loaded bendix forward and engages the fly wheel teeth which turns the engine to initiate the start.
Usually the first indication of a malfunction is when you attempt to start the engine, the starter spins with no load and sounds like an electric motor running (which it is). When this happens the bendix spring or retainer washer on the end has usually broken.

[jvandyke]

Looks like these threads are similar?
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/1a-star...rank-spin.html