Recent content by nemoblackdog

I did Pritchett, once, over 20 years ago. Stock factory lockers, OME springs, 33" tires - pretty typical for the day. The only significant damage was bashing the catalytic converters to the point where the internal honeycomb matrix was turned to rubble, and made for a pretty restricted...

Always first look for the obvious things like bad/weak fusible links, dirty grounds, etc... But the possibility remains its a fault in the starting circuit. E.g. ignition switch, NSS or the wiring and splices in the circuit itself. A good, quick diagnostic test is to touch a jumper wire...

You can mix up epoxy with some bit of fiberglass insulation to make a reinforced "paste" - decidedly not brittle.

All any measure will do is buy time and increase hassle factor. Nothing is guaranteed. That said, a reasonable approach is to combine techniques. E.g. both 1) a hidden kill switch and 2) a physical lock on either the steering wheel or shift lever. For the latter, it could be the infamous Club...

The paint job was done back in 2013 and, to be honest, I really can't recall what I paid for it. I want to say something in the neighborhood of $1300? But I could be off by as much as $500. That's just a wild guess. I'm reasonably sure it was less than $2k. I removed all the lights, racks, trim...

Once you do the very basic fundamentals of checking the battery voltage and battery terminal connections, I firmly believe the next step is to apply full battery voltage directly to the start terminal on the starter (where the small wire connects.) You can do this either by running a jumper...

Wholly agreed - do the jumper test first - either directly from the lug on the starter or from the battery positive terminal. The only reason I like doing it from the battery is my head isn't down under into the car when I'm doing it. Just more comfortable for me.

When I was talking about using the multimeter to "ohm out" a connection it was simply to measure the resistance of a piece of wire. I wasn't really speaking about any particular measurement you should do. This is also sometimes called a "connectivity check" to see if there is any connection at...

I think that's a great idea. You're correct, throwing parts at this is not a reliable approach. You might get lucky, but chances are decent you'll end up wasting time and money if you go down that path. If you end up taking that on, I'd be happy to help look it over.

Good advice @lazy . One caveat about testing continuity and resistance of the wiring itself. If the wire is degraded due to age and oxidation of the copper, it may well "ohm out" OK on the multimeter, but that's essentially a no-load resistance measurement. If the wiring is degraded, it may...

Can't hurt to add another ground connection. Though I'd be pretty surprised if that alone would improve the situation. Your understanding of how the current flows (ring terminal, bolt head, threads) sounds about right. Certainly can't count on it making contact through a partially painted panel...

Good advice. The only reason that removing the ground (negative) cable first is considered best practice is that if you first try to remove the positive cable, there is a chance the wrench could contact a grounded point, creating a short. But, i've done it both ways, and neither way, depending...

so do i need to leave the NEG pole connected at the battery to check for 12 V at the starter? - No, but if the negative battery cable is is not connected, to make that measurement, you'll need to connect the negative wire on your multimeter directly to the the negative pole on the battery. If...

Personally, if you're already removing the negative cable terminal at the battery (for safety reasons), then also removing the positive terminal is not necessary. That would be too much belt and suspenders from my perspective. But, some folks do actually wear belts and suspenders! You are...

Sure. It's never a bad idea to disconnect the battery ground connection prior to setting this up. That's just good practice, of course. (Me, I'm lazy and to be truthful, I sometimes ignore this practice. )