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The low voltage can also be one of the symptoms of a going bad ign switch. The solenoid pulls a lot of current and the contacts inside the ign switch are pretty marginal. The starter post in particular seems to take a beating. It could be that there is resistance in the switch and the solenoid just doesn't get the oomph needed for a solid engagement.

The other thing I've seen is if the link to Bendix is adjusted so the plunger cannot make a full travel. If you look at figure 4 in electrical section, you can see if the plunger is not going all the way back, the pin that works the contact disc may not be getting a solid push.

All,

I think the issue is solved. As many of you know, I went back to the starter's rebuilder and they indicated that the conditions inside the solenoid was classically caused by LOW voltage. They suspected a faulty ignition switch.

My mechanic, Tom, a fellow that helped me immensely during the restoration, said the switch was fine. He doubled checked it and it was doing what it was designed to do. In essence I had (2) professionals pointing fingers in the direction of the other so to speak. What I'm impressed thoroughly about this however was that Tom telephoned the shop and spoke with their technician. He wanted to perfectly understand what their point of view was!

This morning he came over to the house and rolled up his sleeves and jumped into the mechanic's pit in the garage. He poked around and then found something interesting. (As many others also recall, this past summer I had a GM L460E transmission put into the 400) What he found was that to support the transmission's new computer etc., a lead was wired into the ignition to solenoid wire that Tom had originally wired into the car when the Painless wiring harness was put in.

He reasoned (and it makes sense to my simple mind) that the computer module wire to the transmission was drawing enough voltage away from the solenoid to cause our problem. A Carquest universal relay and pigtail were purchased (Numbers 56-1555 and S654) and installed. Now, using the relay, routing wire directly from the battery to the relay and then onto the solenoid, we get a solid 12 volts to the right place when it is needed.

After about 15-20 starts and a 30 mile drive this afternoon, all systems seem to working perfectly again. We mounted the relay on the firewall in the area where the main portion of the harness enters the car because we had an extra hole near there on the firewall. I'll post a picture in a few.

Relay mounted on firewall.

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Hopefully that is the answer. Did your friend happen to measure the voltage with the computer connected? I'm curious why it took almost 5 months to start acting up.

Good point; I'll ask him & cross my fingers!

Kevin,

Sounds like the starter problem is properly diagnosed and fixed!

Craig

Kevin, a neat bit of detective work. You obviously have a very knowledgeable mechanic. Don't forget to buy him a very nice gift for Christmas.

(o[]o)