Too lazy to re-write. From an e-mail I wrote to Motorsports:
So, the fiat was running decently for the first time ever. Till it decided not to start a month or so ago. The starter would roll the engine over 1/4 a turn and then click quickly as if it had slipped off the ring gear. My manuals all say this is highly unlikely and don't even address it. So you can imagine what a time I've had of diagnosing it. Pulling the starter is one of the hardest things to do on my car, due to the location of the bolts that secure it...up inside the bell-housing. I've done it before to replace the steering box and I spent a day this last weekend doing it again. I get it out, I give it the thrice-over and I can't see any evidence of a mechanical problem *at-all*. It's ok...just my untrained eye, right?....
I was all ready to send it off for a $164 rebuild till Zac (a co-worker, fellow restoration artist on a 65 Malibu, and a lurker on our list) took a long slow drag on his cigarette and calmly suggested that a low battery could cause such a condition. Only having enough juice to roll the engine a quarter-turn and then click as the electro-magnets don't have enough juice to spin properly and the solenoid slaps metal against metal over and over...
I never thought to fully charge the battery.
I checked all the electrical connections, even beefed up the wires to the starter in an attempt to make sure it's not electrical-related. I mean, the horn worked, and that bitch is so loud it's sure to use as much juice as the starter *wink*.
*sigh*
After all the starting I was doing on he side of the 15, it probably needs it. I am a dumb-ass. I will slap the bitch back in and get out the charger. If it is a problem with the starter, I'm not pulling that shit back out again. Period. I'm getting it towed to ITAL, at this point, it's worth it to me. ;)
Monterey 2004, here I come!
