Hey amigos, I can't get my slant to crank! I have a '69 Dart and when I turn the key to crank I get a click from the starter, a spark from the battery negative terminal, and then nothing. Power to everything is dead. No headlights and such.

Thinking it was something in the starter, I swapped it out for another one I had but the same thing happens. Anyone have an idea as to what's going on? I thought that the starter would be the most likely culprit but is there another element of the system that could cause these symptoms?

To note: A few weeks back this happened and I whacked the solenoid housing with a hammer and that took care of the problem. Between then and now there have been a couple occasions when it hasn't started right away but given a slight split-second clicking and then cranked.

What are the odds that the starter I put in could be doing the same thing as the original?

If you're getting a spark from the battery terminal (either/both), then you've got severe connection-integrity problems at that location. Pull both battery cables off the battery, inspect thoroughly for cable deterioration at the cable-to-terminal junction, clean the battery posts and the terminal clamps, reinstall tightly, and retry. Let us know what happens.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I've had the same thing happen several times in several cars, and each time it turned out to be a poor connection that opened up when you tried to put a lot of current through it. Usually, but not always, the problem was right at the battery clamp.

Nice pic of the Pheonix. How did you put a pic on here???

You can't actually post a picture here. The picture must be resident on an accessable server somewhere then you insert a link to it using the "Img" tags. I believe there's a write up about it someplace, but it goes like this:

[img]http://www.dodgetruckworld.com/gallery/dakight/245250.jpg[/img]

That string will insert a link to the photo and cause the photo to be displayed like this:

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Dan, you are the Man. Not the Man who raises our rates and makes us conform to social norms but the other Man. The one that hits the problem right on the nose and gets us fools' cars back on the road.

It turns out that the connection at the positive battery terminal was very, very terrible. I replaced the battery/starter cable, made a nice 8 gauge wire to go to the starter relay (I think that's what it is, right?) and soldered its also crimped on ends, and put a new marine type clamp on the terminal with a stud and wingnut to replace the pinch-down-on-the-stripped-wire-ends type. Voila! Thanks a million.

Y'welcome, glad to help. Those "tighten the two bolts to press a sheetmetal strap against the stripped end of the battery cable, pinching the strands against the cable clamp" type terminals were never meant as long-term repair parts; they're really only supposed to be temporary get-by repairs until you can do the job right...!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Aaahhh, so that's the proper name for them... I was wondering...

Yeah, I noticed that the negative cable has one of them too so I might have to go ahead and replace it as well. Mind your connections, people. Mind your connections.

I use those temporary battery terminals...............

Except I put a terminal lug on the end of the cable and then bolt the lug to the terminal end..............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes