Starter relay problem

[krinkov58]

I parked my '51 Roadmaster about a month ago and haven't tried to start it until yesterday...charged the battery up, changed the oil and replaced some hoses last week but now the car will not turn over, the starter relay just clicks (not the solenoid). Carb and neutral switches seem to work fine. Does anybody know which terminal to ground to check if the relay is toast? Manual says the one with green tracers. Any colors in the engine compartment harness have long since faded, though.

[njlimbaugh]

You probably only have dirty cable connections. Check all cables: battery to ground/starter, connections between all switches involved, all grounds involved. If it was working when it was shut off, chances are it hasn't gone south just by sitting around.

[krinkov58]

I did a quick ground check yesterday but it was getting dark, will check everything today. Honestly my wife's Subaru does the exact same thing when it has rained a lot (which it has lately). Both cars are stored in a carport but we live literally 6 feet from a river and there is a lot of fog and moisture this time of year. Might be completely unrelated.

[39CENT]

one of the most perplexing electrical problems is the mysterious ",grounded short, to variable open" circuit problem. Just kidding. When you get a prob that happens during certain weather conditions it is usually, corroded, or dirty connections. For obvious reasons these happen a lot with the older cars. Dirt usually isn't a problem when weather is hot and dry, but when it gets cold an damp it will start conducting, either bleed voltage or interfere with contacts. Newer cars don,t have some of these problems because they arent as dirty, or corroded. On old Buicks you have the infamous "throttle start switch", which will cause wierd starter actions. From my experience it gets cruddy from gas and oil, vapors around the carb,, and with some dirt it gets the contacts 'sticky' which interfears with its inner works and may prevent full voltage contact to start circuit, so you can try jumping a wire across the 2 wires on that switch to check if thats whats happening. just kinda touch the wires and see if the start circuit will activate, it will make the solenoid have a good click at least. just my 2 cents.

[krinkov58]

Bad connection, problem solved, thanks guys!! I'm still having a problem with my passenger side front blinker though, traced the wiring up to the firewall with no breaks or exposed wiring (the harness is actually in awesome condition) and replaced the bulbs for giggles but it's still blinking fast in the rear, not at all in the front, dim with the parking lights on, and I get only one blink from the dash indicator then just faint faster-than-normal clicking. Left turns are perfect, everything functions fine.

[39CENT]

well could be another bad connection. you may have good voltage, of wire thru bulb but whats the return connection like. circuit goes thru bulb, then socket, lamp box and then thru the body and back to the battery. is there any rust anywhere there? corrosions?. To brighten up lighting on your car you should go thru all lights and see to it that theres no hidden rust etc. You can do it a little bit at a time, and also check if you have body to frame, to engine, jumpers. check it out.

[Straight Eight]

Try grounding the shell of the socket to the fender with a good connection. Should correct the problem.

[njlimbaugh]

Any time the lights on these old cars begin to get hinky, it's usually because the ground between the light housing and the body has been lost. First, try running the mounting screws in and out a few times; usually that will cure a sloppy ground. If that does'nt work, run a jumper wire from the light housing to the battery. If the light works just run a jumper ground from the housing to the frame.