Technical Starter fails to crank after car has been driven.

[RS1986]

I have recently come into possession of a long time good friends 1986 X 1/9 (Bertone). Sadly he was in poor health at the time and has since passed away and his knowledge went with him about the car. The current issue preventing me from making this car road legal: After the car has been driven at least 6 miles, if the car is turned off it will not restart for 30 - 40 minutes (or longer depending on outside temperatures). At cold the car starts with out fail. The battery is brand new. I am not very good with cars and any help would be very much appreciated, please dumb it down due to my lack of car knowledge. I have as of this weekend removed the starter and plan to have it "bench" tested. I fear they will find nothing wrong unless they have a way to get the starter up to the temperatures seen when this failure occurs.

Note: The failure is the starter does not operate after car has been driven, no "click" no nothing, panel lights on dash are present. Car can be roll started under these conditions....

 

[Skillmaker]

Step 1 in every X1/9: Check for grounding.

In other words - There is a cable from the negative terminal on the battery to the car chassis. This is in the front trunk. Where the cable connects to the chassis, remove the bolt, using sandpaper, clean both the end of the cable, AND the mounting pad where it bolts to the chassis. Wire brush or clean the bolt as well. Then reassemble.

In the back of the car, you should find a braided cable that connects from the transmission to the car chassis. Just like in the front of the car, remove the bolt holding the braided cable to the chassis, clean the mounting pad with sandpaper, clean the end of the cable, and clean the bolt. Then reassemble the cable back onto the chassis.

See if this helps. The starter is a large electric draw, and if there is not sufficient grounding, then it won't work.

The problem may also be the solenoid on the starter itself. The solenoid is the smaller component on the starter where the cables mount. It is responsible for two tasks, making the electrical connection to turn the starter motor, and making a small piston push the starter gear into the flywheel to allow it to turn the engine over. If the solenoid is going bad, possibly when it gets hot it is not functioning, so no electrical connection and no mechanical action, so the starter won't turn over.

Hope this helps.

 

[RS1986]

Thank you for the information, I will most certainly try the ideas you have passed along! I did remove the starter and had it bench tested which it passed, which was done at room temperature. The mechanic did suggest suggest adding some test points at main power to starter as well as the ignition contact, in hopes to rule out failing starter. Before reinstalling the starter did notice there was some form of "residue" where started mounted. Gave it a good cleaning in hopes that it may provide a better ground as well. Thanks again.

 

[RS1986]

You nailed it Skillmaker! I spent the last weekend cleaning all ground contacts that I could locate, also added an extra ground from starter mounting bolt to chassis (which lead to another issue).
Took it to have emissions tested on it and low and behold she fired right up after being driven 11 miles to testing facility. Thank you for your help!