Expert: Vern Bullock - 12/4/2008

Question
I have put a lot of money into this car and under the hood.most recently, I took the car in to get all new brakes and shoes, and rebuild the transmission along with a new starter. The flywheel was missing a lot of teeth BC of the starter, I believe. Anyway, besides the slippage, my car was fine. Always started up. Now I am stranded on the side of the road and out of nowhere, when I try to start all I get is one click. I checked the ohms and the battery is fine. I have oil so my engine isn't locked up.what else could this be? The solenoid? Do you think it could be anything else? Could this be from the new starter? I need help BC right now I think I'm being screwed by my mechanic

Answer
Hi Mike:
It could be a number of things, including the starter solenoid. If you want to put the same type of parts on your car, then when the starter was changed the solenoid should have been changed as well. Also, I recommend new aftermarket starter that have the solenoid built into the starter. They work much better. However, it sounds like bad bushings and a new starter shouldn't have this problem.

Tap the solenoid with the head of a screw driver a few time to see if that helps. Also check for loose cable connection on the starter and solenoid. And finally, if the car was hot when the problem occurred, try it when it is cold. The bushings in the starter will sometimes swell when they are hot (using on old, worn  starters).

About your Mechanic...He is working on a 63 Ford. If the car is older than he is, I would begin to wonder about his ability to correctly diagnosis a problem on this car. Also, if he is considered a mechanic and not a technician, that's a good sign. Never let a technician touch your car unless you give specific instructions on what needs to be done and how it should be done.

Its also a good idea to diagnosis your own problems using Internet help, then get a second opinion from another Internet forum before going to your mechanic with specific instructions on what the problem is.