Hey all. Im having the intermittent starting issue. One big "Click", no crank.
Sometimes it's first try fire up, sometimes 20+ tries to get it to turn over. Im competent in most diagnosing and repairs, but this has me beat and I can't find a consistent answer anywhere.
I have:

1. Replaced starter(original starter was weak when hot but consistently did 5 clicks then start when cold)
2. Replaced Battery(Duralast Gold)
3. Shimmed starter 1-8 mm (3/64- 5/16 in) by increments of 2mm(3/32 in)
4. Replaced both battery post terminals, Positive to Starter, Negative to Block, negative to chassis( original positive to alternator cable)
5. Replaced starter relay, swapped ignition relay w/ starter relay
6. Cleaned circuit board inside the little black box under driver side dash( BCM i think, maybe VATS module)
7. Replaced Ignition Switch(old and new one both visably spark going from START to RUN on fails)
8. Wiggled the silver box near the starter relay
9. 11.3+ volts during cranking during "Click"
10. 12.4+ at starter
11. VATS bypass by Pop-a-Lock

I can audibly tell when the car will start after a bunch of one click no starts. Hard to describe, but I can hear what kind of sounds like a voltage drop at the ignition switch then she fires up. The spark clicking sound gets a little dull right before it.

Side notes: Car has 180k miles, a bad pilot bushing, worn crankshaft, clutch doesn't feel like it fully disengages, worn synchros, radiator fan ground spliced to chassis and PCM, misaligned p/s pulley, rear speakers go in and out, headlights go down when batt reconnected but not up, headlight dimmer switch faulty, other stuff probably. New head gaskets tho.
Any help appreciated. Thanks

 

woh, sure sounds like a wire failing somewhere,,, or the starter is getting bound up somehow, can you see the condition of the teeth on the flywheel, may be starter is having issues engaging, maybe try pulling the starter part way out so it will not engage with the flywheel then ground it with jumper, then see if it works every time. this is a stumper...

 

The starter spins over every time I try it away from the flywheel. Engagement sounds like the issue here. Ill update when I get the transmission out for the 4th dang time

 

Wouldn't be the first " new " starter I've seen with issues. When you say new is it actually new or rebuilt?
I quit buying rebuilt starters years ago and went with getting the one I had rebuilt at a starter/alternator shop.
Good way to avoid binding issues and playing with shims and I've never had to take one back.
Some years back I took the starter from my 1984 Harley with 100K miles on it to my local starter/alternator guy after the H-D dealer quoted me almost $200 for a new one.
He pulled it apart and said everything looked good except it needed new brushes,H-D doesn't even sell rebuild kits so he ground down some brushes made for a car to fit my bike starter installed them in my old starter and charged me $40. It worked perfect to the day I sold the bike with 140K miles on it.

 

I would look at the flywheel teeth to see if they are damaged, then try another starter or have it bench tested at a shop like y2 is saying.

 

Its the cheapo AutoZone rebuilt starter. The only reason I THINK its ok is because it works 100% of the time when its not connected to the block.

It could be bad PCM grounds since ALDLdroid app isn't accurately logging battery voltage vs. the multimeter(~1.5 volts lower) and sometimes has problems staying connected past 10 min. Also finds stored codes but none showing when the Service Engine light(occassionally) lights up. Haven't dropped the trans yet to check the flywheel teeth.

 

should be able to look at the flywheel teeth through the starter hole... the starter working every time means the wiring is working, not necessarily that the starter is working right, while not under load a bad starter can work. that also can go for wiring as well. check wire ends closely, sometimes the wires can get lose inside the wire ends and get a good connection some times and some times not.

 

I'm not going to drop the transmission. Found out I can jump the starter through the purple signal wire without fail so SOMEWHERE in the starter circuit is a fault.

I'm just going to install one of the push engine start buttons. I'll post the pics when I finish the job incase anyone else gets this annoying electrical issue.

 

Broke 1-2 shift fork...twice lol. Dropped the trans and I keep finding oil in the starter so i guess its oil shorting it out sometimes. Never using cork valve cover gaskets again.