Just GUNK'd the motor, now it won't start

[Cuse99]

Pffft! "84.........old car...." Did you bump your head and forget where you're posting this?

I guess I did. Please forgive my moment of memory loss.

 

[oldsmobile joe]

maybe you liquid locked the motor. just let the water drain pass the rings into the crankcase. should be good then.

 

[Cuse99]

If you used a pressure washer, check to see if any old, rotted wires were blown off or broken by the pressure.

No just a hose with stream. Nothing to crazy.

 

[Supercharged111]

Weird. Put a meter on and make sure the voltage isn't tanking. If it's still acting up in the morning I'd consider yanking a bank's worth of plugs to see if that changes things.

 

[64nailhead]

I bet you have a crappy ground or wire at or near the starter. Use a set of jumper cables as a ground and hot to the starter, turn the key on to run and then hit the hot post on the battery with the jumper cable

 

[79 GP 4 speed]

He washed all the dirt and oil away that was causing a really good ground 😅

 

[Streetbu]

So it does crank, then stops. Do this, turn your headlights on, have someone watch the lights while you try to crank the car. If they dim, all of your connections are ok. If they go out, you have bad connections or a bad battery.

 

[Cuse99]

I tried again this morning and it won't start but the starter was clicking like it was bad or not getting juice. So I'm betting this is a starter issue, and probably a bad connection. I'll have to wait till after this storm, expecting 18 inches by tomorrow. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Cuse99]

So it does crank, then stops. Do this, turn your headlights on, have someone watch the lights while you try to crank the car. If they dim, all of your connections are ok. If they go out, you have bad connections or a bad battery.

The starter starts to click, then just dies. All other electrical functions work. The battery is new.

 

[fleming442]

Did you make sure the battery terminals are tight?