1970 (6 cyl) 280SE wont Crank..
 

Hi and thanks in advance... Car has new battery, less than an ohm resistance between chassis and ground cable.. Manual i have suggests shorting across solenoid connections to make the starter turn....But the exhaust manifold covers the solenoid ...:mad: What else could be open between the ignition switch and the solenoid..Previous owner had a new Bosch starter
put in a year ago ...tells me something is intermittnet..another post mentions the tranny neutral lockout switch....

Any suggestions appreciated..
Ron C.

Neutral start switch or shift rod bushings. Do you have a column shift or floor shift? In either case, lift or push the level into park and hold it there while turning the key, see if that gets the starter spinning. Try it with the selector in neutral too.

Mike... Atually had tried that a few days ago...I'm beginning to think the last owner just imagined he had the starter replaced ..from some things he said and...I took a long bar and rapped on the solenoid housing and it at least clicked some....
for 2 or 3 tries and then wouldn't click until rapped on again...

It is entirely possible the PO installed a substandard rebuilt starter, leaving you in the same predicament he was in. Definitely an avenue to explore.


The PO of my 4.5 had 3 starters replaced in less than a year. In the 4.5's case it is shift column bushings (inside the steering column) causing slop. 4 going on 5 years, no starter replacements on my part.

Mike.. This car.. has floor shift, I suppose next step is to remove the starter and bench test it. Can the solenoid be taken off and cleaned ? lubed? Plunger realigned?

i got the car (image below) for $750 becuase he thought it might need a starter, and some left rear quarter panel damage, but it has started reliably for 2 months.. AND runs great except for mild smoke which I assume is valve guide seal related, it has excellent power.. In the owners manual they refer to a hotter Bosch spark plug for hard driving..:D Would one heat range hotter plug
help a bit with the smoking...?

I think your car runs W7DC's. I suppose you could try W8DC's (Not the WRxDC's - R= resistor) as they are a little hotter I believe. A little smoke could be valve seals, and unless the plugs are fouling I would just run it as is until you do the seals.

I have heard of folks pulling the solenoid and cleaning/lubing and reinstalling. One of the guys at wourk did that three times on his SLC before springing for a fresh Bosch rebuilt. Worth a try.