Very Weird And Dramatic Starter Failure.

And this was a starter installed less then two years ago! The first symptom was not starter failure at all. It was total, fast, repetitive intermediate engine failure to ignite. I rolled to a stop and the noise from the rear was high pitched whine while sitting there. I turned the key off, then turned it to crank and the car started and off I limped to my home only a mile away. All this was after about 100 third gear curves in the N. Georgia Mountains. I got home alright and let the car sit. A few days later tried to start the car but it was entirely dead. Not one single voltage indicator. So I hooked up my battery charger with some confidence things would change. NOT SO. The entire car is dead dead dead. Had a beer to clear my head and settled upon checking battery/battery switch continuity. There was none. The battery had full voltage but the switch had entirely failed.

That was quite a relief. I simply by-passed the switch and the car started right up and idled smoothly. OK. Down my little mountain goes eye with all eight cylinders in good order. For five minutes! The intermediate engine ignition cut out imposed itself once again with menacing authority, but I nursed the car back home. Here is the very very first weirdness.

Upon turning the ignition off the tachometer continued to show very low rpms while at the same time whining from the rear. I put the car in gear, let out the clutch, and all that stopped. For a little while. Then I was presented with a very very loud CLACK CLACK CLACK at about three clacks per second. I opened the engine hood and heard it very specifically. The ignition is off, but there is this loud clacking sound. And it did not stop! So I got a wrench and disconnected the negative battery terminal. All that noise stopped. Thinking Sherlock Holmes I called up my best Dr. Watson and perused the matter. I became convinced the starter solenoid was engaging on its own even with the key in the off position.

I further deduced the battery switch failed because the starter had gone berserk in the night and with its repeated pulsings and clacking had simply burned it out! This will be resolved in the next week or two. I ordered a new Bosche WR-1 intermediate relay, a new battery cut out (from a Caterpillar Bulldozer), and will test the NAPA warranty for Bosch starters. Assuming that is the failed part. One consolation is this: The electronic ignition seems not to have been damaged by this horrendous short circuit. But I certainly miss driving my Ferrari! It is a perfect Fall here in the N. Georgia Mountains and I have hundreds of 3rd gear turns that go wanting!

PS: My general car situation has actually gotten even worse! My 1988 supercharged Mark VII project is pretty much an entire failure. I bought it about 18 months ago because it looked damned near show-room. Further, I arraigned to modify it in exactly the same way I had done to the 1991 Mark VII that I ran for 190,000 miles starting back in the 1990s. However, neither me nor my mechanic can figure out why the ignition goes entirely missing after the car has warmed up. He mentioned I should have gone with a twin scroll carburetor supercharger to begin with and I am about to take him up on it.

If done in this way the car it will loose some of its elegant hood line since it will need a hood bulge to accommodate the carb. At this point I really don't give a damn. Where I live a giant hood bulge bragging a carbed supercharger would be a net positive. Forget that my 1991 version looked entirely stock and would do 130 MPH at 3,000 rpm. And besides, I do not expect to be running 750 mile one way trips from Chicago to Georgia and back any time ever again.