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I think that you may have a bad starter relay. If could have corrosion on the terminals causing excessive resistance, especially if the car tried to start without the ignition turned on. How did you stop the starter when that happened? Try swapping it with a known good unit and see what happens. You may still have excessive resistance in the battery cable, or a short in the starter as you mentioned. Letting a car sit for 20 years is never good for a car. Here’s a couple videos as well to help get you started.
Starter diagnosis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKjdnQ0sHQc
Actually, just check the relay, and that video. Good luck, and welcome to the forums bud.
If the car has been sitting for as long as you say. the engine might be stuck and the starter can’t turn it. Put a socket
and breaker bar on the crank bolt and see if you can hand crank the engine. disconnect the battery first. If it is stuck
pull the spark plugs and spray penetrating oil in the cylinders and let sit.C8-)Thanks for the replies guys. Starter relay is a good idea – I will check that and I can also try turning the engine over. When the car started cranking, it took it a bit to jump the blocks which gave us some time to react. My dad then hopped in it and slammed on the brakes, we then disconnected the battery. I think I stood in shock as I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Is there any problem with jacking up a car with old tires? I just wonder because I know jacking any car with a floor jack gives the tires a good workout. Just wondering if this could be dangerous.
This weekend I’ll hopefully get to perform some more tests and also get some pictures for you guys. Thanks again!
My fault on reading. The engine did turn because it ran away from you. that takes us down another path. I would
look at a stuck on ignition switch. The wiring in this car may be dry rotted due to age which will cause alot of electrical issues.
be careful you could have a fire. keep us posted.C8-)I will first say that you have your hands full, an old Vette is a cool thing but not one that has been sitting for a long time, trust me I’ve done extensive work on my friends 68 but we won’t get into that now. First don’t use jumper cables and another car to ‘charge’ a battery, use a battery charger on a trickle charge, this would be the ‘correct’ way, jumper cables are for emergencies unless you want to burn up the alternator of the good car you’re using to charge the dead one I would suggest using a battery charger, aside from that the dead battery should be brought back slowly in order to ensure it’s longevity.
As stated I think you have 2 problems here, the first would be a possible connection problem at the battery so I would suggest you remove the terminals and clean them well and then recheck for the no start condition, the dim headlights are my clue on this, it’s either that or the battery is junk so I would suggest you have it tested after you properly charge it with a battery charger. Come to think of it you might also check the cable connections to the body and engine block for corrosion as well after all it has sat for some time.
The second problem could be the ignition switch itself, if I’m not mistaken it resides down low on the steering column and is connected to the mechanical switch by a long rod, GM’s of that vintage were famous for problems in this area and may have been what caused it to start automatically, it may be that you can just work and clean the contacts since it sat for so long or you may need to replace it.
Lastly here is the video that I did on starter diagnosis that I hope will cover anything that I might have missed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKjdnQ0s … ure=relmfuId also like to add this video –
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