Strange -won't start- problem
 

Strange thing happened with my '82 300TD yesterday. Two or three times over the past couple of months it has failed to start. The glow system works ok, but the starter does not engage. It seemed like the neutral safety switch was going out to me. No click on the starter, no nothing when turning the key. However, moving the shifter around never solved the problem. Every time this has happened, I've been at home so I've just driven another car. When I would try the 300TD the next day or next week it would start normally.

Yesterday, it happened to me at work. I moved the shifter around several times, tried to start in neutral as well as park, but nothing worked. For no reason in particular, I put it in neutral and got out and pushed it forward about a foot. Put it back in park and it started right up on the first try. Is this just a strange coincidence or is it indicative of a problem somewhere?

Could be the neutral safety switch but a fair number of forum members report problems with lack of starter activiation with the switch. Someone finally chased it down in a thread about a month ago to worn/dirty contacts in the ignition switch. You can jump the starter from the junction box on the passenger fender well. This should rule out the starter.

I had the same problem. In my case, it turned out to be loose wires on the solenoid. That would probably be the easiest thing to check first.

Check your grounds. Especially the eng-chassis ground strap that is near the starter. A couple of years ago, I had the same symptoms and found that the bracket the strap attached to was loose.

My starter on my 85 SD has given me fits, it wouldn't work, just click like yours, then it would send smoke up thru the motor. I spotted this when the hood was up. Thought I was cranking too long. Tried another time, saw smoke, had been cranking only a few seconds. I got under the car and traced the source with my hand. Almost burnt my hand on the stud that the battery connects to the solenoid and saw it wiggle. This is the source of my problem and will replace again ( I just replaced it last year) when it gets warmer.

yup, check your wiring connections to the starter, and engine grnd.

also, the NSS could still be at fault, id guess. try holding the key to start, while moving the shifter. be ready to relesae the key- you dont want to start in gear. but this could pinpoint a problem.

old chevy's were notorious for that.