[pologoped2]

I have been driving my 1965 Mustang for 5 years with no problems until last winter (which is when i store the mustang) i went to start the mustang after it had been sitting for about 3 months and the starter would not disengage. To stop the starter from spinning (once it is stuck) i disconnected the negative cable from the battery post. After this initially happened i installed a new solenoid and thought it was fixed until i later found out the problem occurs off and on. After a total of 3 new solenoids and a new starter (all purchased from napa) the problem still occurs off and on. Most of the time when the starter will not disengage the solenoid arc's together and you have to smack it with a hammer before reconnecting the negative battery cable otherwise it will just continue to spin. We have determined the the starter only sticks when the engine is hot OR if i hold the starter down for about 5 to 10 seconds (as i don't have good fuel pressure and sometimes i need to do this to get it started). I say when it is hot because if the car is sitting over night and i go to start it, it will be fine, and it will also be fine if i drive the car for 15 minutes and then turn it off and turn it back on (as i still have good fuel pressure so it fires right up). But if after 15 minutes of driving the car i let the mustang sit for 10 or more minutes and i lose fuel pressure then i will have to hold the key over for a little bit and this is when it will stick. We have also looked over the wiring and confirmed it is correct and also confirmed we are properly grounded. We've read online that this may be caused by a bad battery which i think is the next option as again the starter has already been replaced as well as 3 new solenoids.

Any ideas would be much appreciated as we are stumped.

Thanks

[heavy metal]

Welcome to the site,it sounds like it is drawing too much,and getting the selinoid hot,I suggest to check your cables and connections,and have the battery load tested.

[pologoped2]

Heavy Metal, thanks for the response. We had the battery load tested at checkers auto and it tested fine. When we brought the battery to them they said it was half charged but it charged up fine at the store and withstood a load test. We think the battery was only half charged because i just took the mustang out of storage and had not driven it very much. We have currently cleaned the battery connections to ensure the solenoid wasn't trying too much current (like you mentioned) and are in the garage (on a wireless laptop) testing it now. After reconnecting the battery cables it started fine in the garage a couple of times. I then went and drove the mustang for about 10 minutes and came back and turned it off and then started it again and it started fine. After about 10 minutes of letting it sit after the 10 minute drive i turned the key to on to let the engine fan run for a little bit (draining the battery a little) and then i tried to start the mustang again and this is when the starter stuck and stayed engaged. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[quikmcw]

Yep, check your cables for any shorts or breaks, also check your ignition switch......I had a broken ignition switch that caused mine to do the same thing.

[pologoped2]

quikmcw thank you for the response, we think it is either the ignition switch or the battery. Do you think there is any chance that it could be the battery? Also, after the starter stuck and remained engaged we pulled the negative cable on the battery and then attempted to reconnect it and it started spinning again. After waiting ten minutes with the negative cable off we tried putting it back on and again it continued to spin. This confirmed the the solenoid was indeed arc'ed together so we then took a hammer to the solenoid and then reconnected the negative cable to the battery and the starter was fine and wasn't spinning anymore upon reconnecting the negative cable to the battery. Do you still think it could be the ignition switch given this situation?

Thanks

[quikmcw]

quick test, jumper the solenoid to turn over the starter and see if the solenoid will arc shut.

[pologoped2]

Follow up response to Quickmcw:

Did your starter stay engaged every time you tried to start the car or only some of the time? As in my situation it is only when it gets hot and i crank it over for a couple seconds or drain the battery a little by letting the fan run (all mentioned in previous posts). I am trying to figure out how similar your problem was to mine prior to ordering a new ignition switch.

Thanks

[ElChino]

Check the ignition switch or make sure you dont turn the ignition key too much when you start it

[quikmcw]

mine was intermittent as well and when it would "run on" with the starter I would immediately turn the ign. switch off, turning off the engine and all. Mine got to the point where the ign. switch would not turn off anything and the interior pulled out completely. This is when I needed to disconnect the battery cable to turn everything off.

[pologoped2]

Quikmcw, do you think your ignition switch was sticking or just screwing up in some other way internally? Also, did your solenoid ever arc together and you had to tap it with a hammer to stop the starter from spinning when reconnecting the battery?

Thanks again for all your help

[pologoped2]

More testing was done this evening with a new battery installed. Unfortunately the new battery didn't solve the problem. We attempted to have the starter stay engaged but the only time we could get it to fail again was when we drove the car around for 10 minutes and then let it sit for about ten minutes and then starting the car. We realized that after i let it sit for 10 minutes after having driven it for that long i am losing fuel pressure and the fan is also on. With the low fuel pressure i have to hold the starter for awhile to get it to start the car. With the fan theory if it had to do with the fan i would think that it would screw up after i turned the car off and then started it again (after having driven it for a while), but again the starter only stays engaged when i drive it and then let it sit for 10 minutes and then try to start it. After it failed, we let it sit for 20 more minutes and then went and attempted to have it fail on us again but it would not fail (the fan was also not turning on at this time because the car cooled down). Any other thoughts? I have a new ignition switch coming Monday. But even if it was the ignition switch why would it only occur after i drive the car and then let it sit for 10 to 30 minutes?

[quikmcw]

I'm hoping that the new switch will fix the problem for you. Only reason I could think of for the car needing to be run for 10 minutes or more for it to mess up is a possible short some where. With the low fuel pressure, are you running an electric fuel pump ? My pump is manual as well as the fan, so my ign. switch would not have affected them.

[pologoped2]

Alright i just picked up a new ignition switch at Autozone (I was surprised they had it) and got it installed and will test it tomorrow. As far as the fuel pump goes it is NOT electric but my fan IS electric (hence why we think the fan may have something to do with it). I really hope this new ignition switch fixes the problem as this is becoming a drag. If the problem still occurs tomorrow with the new ignition switch then i will sink a final 16 bucks for a new solenoid that way i will have a new starter, new battery, new solenoid, and new ignition switch. However, even though my current solenoid has arc'ed a couple of times, if the starter only stays engaged after driving the car for a little bit and then letting it sit for 10 minutes then i don't think getting a brand new solenoid will change anything. Also, Quikmcw do you think that it could be a short even though the problem started when i just went to start it up one winter day after it was sitting for 3 months (this is why i think it is a component and not wiring).

Thanks again for all your help

[quikmcw]

a component can make a short as well. If you think that the fan is involved with the situation, check it's connectivity and see if it is controlled by the solenoid, where when the fan is running, turning the key off the fan turns off. Can Autozone test the solenoids ? Maybe take your current solenoid in and see if they can test it. Only time I've had a solenoid fuze or arc shut is when I had a bad positive cable going from the solenoid to the starter, with the cable shorting out and pulling the extra power it shorted out the solenoid.

[pologoped2]

I will have to examine that cable tomorrow quikmcw. So your solenoid never arc'ed shut when your starter wouldn't disengage and you fixed it by replacing the ignition switch (as mentioned in one of your previous posts)? When you were having that problem (with the starter not disengaging) did you just pull the negative on the battery to kill it and then put the cable back on and the starter didn't spin anymore?