car will not crank / no fuel pump when hot

[tommyturbo]

Hi All,
Drove my 88 Shelby Z daytona, TII, on a long trip this weekend. One the one way, I went through the desert, probably about 100 out. Car did fine, but when I stopped to get food, car would not restart. Turn Key, one small click, no cranking, and no fuel pump. After cooling off for 30 minutes, car restarts and continues running fine. Got new fuel pump relay, asd relay, starter relays at napa in san luis obispo where I went. Installed them. Drove back today to high desert today. After driving and getting hot, car did same thing again when I stopped for food. It didn't however when i stopped for gas.

Any ideas? Also I think this car was missing the starter heat shield when I got it, but it's never been a problem in the summer before.

[cordes]

If you jump the terminals on the plug for the starter relay the next time it happens you will be able to rule out the starter easily. It sure sounds like a bum starter solenoid though.

[tommyturbo]

But shouldn't the fuel pump turn on momentarily even if the starter solenoid is bad? When the car does this, if you turn the key to on, the fuel pump doesn't prime. Shouldn't it still prime even if the starter won't engage?

[minigts]

Personally, I think you need to ensure your battery has a good connection. My car did that a few times and I couldn't figure it out. I'd get a click and then nothing. I checked the terminals and everything seemed to be tight. But I took the battery out, checked some wires (nothing wrong that I found), then clean the terminals and put it back in. Haven't had the issue since. Also, check your grounds and make sure they are secured to the engine and the bay. That is my take on it.

[tommyturbo]

the battery terminals are clean, no corrosion and tight, that was actually the very first thing i checked.

[minigts]

Did you wiggle the wires? You gotta wiggle 'em! :) Did you check your rail ground? I have had issues with the car doing anything when that was bad. I would just confirm that and all other grounds. :) And for goodness sakes, WIGGLE 'EM! :p

[cordes]

You are right, the FP should prime when you flip the key forward. Jump the starter relay the next time it happens to make sure it isn't the starter itself. I would triple check the battery connections too. See if there is any corrosion visible where the wires go into the battery terminals. I had a problem similar to this in my shadow once and it was that the cables were corroded badly inside of the terminals. I cut off the old ones and used some new ones from the auto parts store and all is well.

[tommyturbo]

Starter solenoid was cracked from the heat of the turbo, still trying to track down a heat shield.