Hey guys, I just took my car out for a 1/2 hour or so ride. I stopped somehwere to get out for a five-ten minutes, I got back in, turned the key and nothing happened. The radio worked and gauges moved, but no noise at all in the starter etc....tried probably 10 times to no avail..waited 10-15 mins and it started right up. Any ideas? I have a Pertronix ignition and a new (June) battery....not sure about alternator age, it looks old to me. I got real lucky cuz I would have been stranded. This is the first time it ever happened. The car was dfinitely not "HOT", its only 45 degrees out here and I only drove about 25 minuted before this happened. I drove alot yesterday with no issues...

 

You may want to take your starter out and take it to have it tested. Since these starters are right next to the block, they tend to get hot with age and won't turn over when they are hot, then when it cools down they do. Other than that, the solenoid may have not been engaging for some reason. If it happens again, then short over your solenoid and see if the engine turns over.

 

mine can do it often also, i have the same starter setup as you are talking about, sometimes i just need to push it fully into park and it starts, the reason it may have started a few minutes later is probably when oyu got in or out it pushed the tranny into gear fully.

 

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about it being a C4. Sure, if the shifter is not fully engaged in Park or neutral, she ain't gonna start.

 

WOW! You guys nailed it! While I was sitting there sweating when it wouldn't start, I pulled it from Park to drive and back again, then it started. I didn't think it would be relevent to the post cuz I couldn;t remember if it started on the very next try or not. Looks like I can forget about it, it must have been a bit out of park...

 

you could also try neutral

 

if the coil is bad youll have the exact same problem.

 

ya that happens in my stang quite a bit. ill leave, throw it in park and when i come back it wont start. so i just have to put it a little more into park and then it will fire up

 

The c4 shifters are sloppy at best. When they get worn they are even more sloppy. The jiggling act seems to work on most.