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Starter trouble with my 78 Avanti II

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  • Starter trouble with my 78 Avanti II

    My starter worked fine when the car was cold but either had trouble or would not turn over when hot. I was told that the Chevrolet starters were notorious for this because the starter solenoid is so close to the exhaust manifold. My engine is the Corvette 350 ci. They call it heat flooding. I bought a heat shield from AutoZone and am in the process of putting it on ( not easy to get at ). There are several types of heat shields and there are even some wraps to go around the starter but they are not very good looking. Chevrolet put the solenoid on the starter where Ford had them mounted separately on the inside fender or firewall. If the shield doesn't work I will mount a remote one on the firewall.
    next two projects are replacing the master cylinder and carburetor. I cannot see any serial number on the carb anywhere. It is supposed to be on the base on the throttle side. The only thing I saw was that it said " quadrajet manufactured for GM by Carter. Without a number, they will not accept the old one for a core. I don't think this is the original carb because there is a wire not connected at the carb that I suspect was for an electric choke and the one on the car now does not have one. Not surprising since the PO butchered most everything he did to the car.
    Avantidave
    1978 Avanti II

  • #2
    Mounting a remote (F**d style) starter relay and wiring it to the existing solenoid is fairly easy. Did that years ago and never looked back. In fact, it was put in the trunk along with the Battery. IMO, as far as the Quadrajet goes, dump it and get a new Holley or Edelbrock. I'm not a big fan of Holley products, but years ago did get a unit called a Holley Economizer. The difference was very smooth running engine, vastly improved mileage and roadability. A New Edelbrock will almost certainly be a good improvement.
    64 GT Hawk (K7)
    1970 Avanti (R3)

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    • #3
      If you go the Edelbrock or Holley route, you'll need a new intake manifold. The Quadrajet is spread-bore while the others are square-bore. You can buy a square- to spread-bore adapter but it will cause the carburetor to sit too high and not clear the hood. Holley does make a spread-bore replacement carb.

      The Quadrajet is an excellent carburetor. Maybe it needs to be rebuilt by someone who knows them. I would not trade it in on an assembly line rebuilt carb...they're crap. The defect rate is very high. Have your own rebuilt before going that route.

      Carter was the secondary supplier for the Quadrajet. GM wanted the extra production capacity plus also as a hedge against strikes by GM/Rochester workers.

      if you do decide to replace the carburetor, I'd buy an Edelbrock, but I'm just more partial to them. An Edelbrock 2701 Performer EPS intake with a 1406 carburetor would make a fine combination. The fuel line would need to be changed from the fuel pump to the carb would need changing plus an in-line fuel filter added, but that's not difficult.
      Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

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      • #4
        If you hear a click and the starter grunts a little (but will not turn the engine over) when you turn the key, it may be the starter and not the solenoid that's the problem. Starters can get heat flooding, too -- heat causes the armature to bind inside the commutator. I would also check to make sure that the battery/solenoid/starter cables are clean and firmly attached -- high temps increase resistance.
        Skip Lackie

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        • #5
          Just to throw this out as a possibility as it recently happened to my '70 Avanti. I had what I thought was a heat soaked stater. My car has a high torque mini-starter I expected to all but eliminate that kind of thing.

          It turned out the valve cover bolts had backed off and oil was dripping onto the starter and created the condition. Once that was taken care of the problem went away.
          Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

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          • #6
            Gunslinger, that's an interesting point. My valve covers are leaking and I am going to replace them. If that and the heat shield don't fix the problem, the next thing will be to replace the starter.
            Avantidave
            1978 Avanti II

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            • #7
              Originally posted by davette59 View Post
              Gunslinger, that's an interesting point. My valve covers are leaking and I am going to replace them. If that and the heat shield don't fix the problem, the next thing will be to replace the starter.
              Dave

              If you do decide to replace the starter, and I would do that before I'd rig a solenoid on the firewall, go to one of the major brand FLAPS and for less than $50 get one of their lifetime starters. It won't cure any heat soak problem but it makes life cheaper when you need a replacement.

              I'll second Gunslingers recommendation on replacing the carb and manifold. I know you are weary about spending more money but rebuilds are a cr@p shoot. I know there are very good shops that do a bang-up job but you are still using an old carb and subject to whatever history it has. A new Edelbrock will give you new plus better technology and the price will probably be less than a quality rebuild with little chance for issues. Replacing the manifold is pretty straight forward and as you are about to replace the valve gaskets just pickup a set of intake gaskets also. Just be sure you mark the position of the distributor body and rotor to get it back in correctly.

              Bob

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