Even more Trans am questions

>>15572059
Electrical gremlims. Alternatively you might have a loose connection between the battery and starter. Otherwise it could be a bad starter, though you should have heard something the first time when it didn't start.

>>15572059
have a look at the grounding cable from the negative post of the battery to the body. They can corrode internally and cause random low draw issues

>>15572059
The symptom is consistent with a bad connection. Since everything died it's going to be on the main cables. IME it's usually right there at the battery, particularly if cable repair ends are used, but I've run into a poor connection on the engine side of the main cable a couple of times.

>>15572059
Check your grounds.

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>>15572059
Ok, I'll make sure to check the grounds and connections. Does anyone have any suggestions on the speedometer cable?

Update: I got stranded in town again. I walked around for a bit and killed some time and got a cheap hammer from a hardware store in an attempt to try to encourage the starter to get past the dead spot. I get under the car and accidentally brush my arm across the headers. Since the car had been sitting for about 2 hours they had cooled off a lot and were barley warm if it all. Then I touched the starter and it was extremely hot so I'm thinking the headers are heating up my starter and causing it to not work. Would getting a newer starter and insulation for the headers help with this issue?

>>15573641
That is a common concern with headers though cars that have this problem usually make at least some noise, if only a click or extremely slow crank.

Regarding insulation on the starter, that tends to make things worse since it also holds heat in. What you would need to do is to rig a heat shield. The shield would need to be closer to the headers than the starter so as to have the maximum air gap between it and the starter sp that cooling air can circulate.

GM starters also suffer from heat soak of the solenoid increasing the resistance of the solenoid to the point it takes more amperage to activate it then the ignition switch can supply. Some people have found a solution in using a Ford style fender mounted starter relay (aka solenoid to BillyBob) which takes much less amperage to set. Using this relay means that full battery amperage can be applied to the starter solenoid instead of the relative trickle through the ignition switch. Plenty of info online how to set this up if you want to do so.

>>15573733
After it's cooled down some it will either make a slow crank or actually start up. But only after about an hour of cooling down. Also when it's warm it won't start at all with the lights on and I have to turn all on them off.

nice, i have an 83 trans am with no rust and 80k on the clock

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>>15578848
Cool, Mine is a 79 with 96k. I've been DDing mine and I love the feel of these older cars sure they make a lot of strange noises and are awkward to park but they sure as hell are fun to drive. I also love the compliments and the "I used to own one of these" comments. Sure, She's old but if you take care of her she will take care of you. The previous owner redid the interior and undercoated the floor pans but couldn't save the trunk pan It's got 3 quarter sized holes in it on the passenger side.

>>15575706
This is consistent with a failing starter - specifically the bit about working better after cooling down. If you had the chevy F-body instead of the pontiac, I'd tell you to get a late-model gear reduction starter as a replacement, because small-block parts interchangablity, but I don't know what options there are for a pontiac 400.

Also if the starter was still hot after 2 hours, it's likely you heated it up electrically when you tried to start it - some sort of internal partial short. It should have been well cooled off by then, no matter how hot the exhaust got it.

If the problem truly is heat soak, the easiest solution is to add header wrap to the tubes nearest the starter.

>>15579087
I'll make sure to get some, Also I found a new starter for it and it's a bit thinner than the original one so that air gap should help keep it a bit cooler.