sjay1989

I am the opposite of what mechanically knowledgeable is but I am a very ambitious Youngsmobile owner and always willing to tinker. I called my mechanic but hes not available for a few days so perhaps I can troubleshoot with the help of you all wonderful people.

I bought my 71 Cutlass last week and have been enjoying the last few days. So earlier today I went to a local car club/show and the car ran beautifully. Post show I stopped to get beer and the car struggled a bit to fire up, but did turn on. I drove a few miles further, stopped to get take out, jumped in and the car was completely dead. The Gen light was on, the headlights would work but no crank. I let the car sit a few minutes and it cranked up again and I was able to make it home.

​​​​​​Today was a relatively hot day but the car did not seem to be overheating. I did turn on headlights for the first time which I havent previously done.

Any thoughts on what to test first? Battery? Starter?

oldcutlass

How did it run when you got it started? Is the issue only limited to a hot start, will it start fine cold? Check your battery connections to make sure they are clean and tight. Measure your battery voltage with the engine off and then again running.

sjay1989

It ran perfectly fine once I got it started. I will check battery terminals. What should i look for as far as voltage numbers?

matt69olds

Look for 14-14.5ish with the engine running. With every electrical accessory on (blower on high, headlights, wipers, etc) ideally the voltage shouldn’t drop much lower than 13.5, probably not going to happen with a factory charging system.

Inspect the cable connections, they need to be clean and tight. If that passes inspection, have the battery load tested. If the charging system and battery passes, have the current draw off the starter checked. If all that is good, it’s time to look at the engine tune. The timing could be off.

oldcutlass

14.2v running and 12.6 with the engine off.

fleming442

As said, check connections, including the starter. If it won't crank when hot, the starter has one foot out the door.
A little tip: be very specific in descriptions of no start conditions. "Crank" (verb) refers to starter or key operation. "Fire" refers to spark or ignition.

joe_padavano

First, if the GEN light came on and the headlights worked, the car wasn't completely dead. The only thing not getting power was the START circuit.

The most basic question: Is the backdrive linkage in place between the steering column and the trans. The neutral safety switch on these cars is on the steering column - even for a floor shift car. If the backdrive linkage has been removed (especially common if the car was converted from column to floor shift) then the NSS can vibrate out of position, causing the START circuit to be dead.

sjay1989

I do recall the previous owner saying sometimes it would not start and the issue was the neutral safety switch but he had that replaced. Its a column shift car and remains same. Should I again replace if it does end up being the issue?

joe_padavano

Pull the connector with two purple wires off the NSS and temporarily jumper across the connector. Does the car start with the key now? It could just be adjustment of the NSS.

armbrbr

I had the same issue with my 69 cutlass. Ended up being the starter. Although I first went through the neutral safety switch and the starter solenoid. I suggest replacing both the starter and the solenoid since you'll already have the starter out.

Super easy to do on an Olds 350.

oldcutlass

I prefer to troubleshoot vs just throwing parts at it. Do as Joe P suggested and narrow your problem down.

gs72

Or just arm the parts cannon and fire for effect!

fleming442

The parts cannon! That's much more fun than the machine that goes "ping"!

joe_padavano

Unless one has too much money and needs to get rid of some, I suggest replacing NO parts before troubleshooting the actual cause of the problem. Sure, the 100 monkeys with a 100 typewriters might eventually write Shakespeare, but it's more likely that replacing parts unnecessarily will cause more potential problems and mask the real one.

cfair

I love the “parts cannon”.

That’s a good one I’m guilty of firing here & there.

Troubleshooting & patience is smarter & cheaper, assuming you have patience and time.

Chris