Starter quite cranking?

[riderrich]

Hi everyone.
I hope someone can help me on this one.

I had my 1980 spider sitting in my garage for about 2 months with out starting it. My battery is charged and I have 12 volts at the coil. I have 12 volts at the starter When I tried to start her, it cranked over a few times and now just clicks at the top of the engine, the starter will not crank. can anyone tell me what to look at next, should I take off the starter and bench test the solinoid and starter or look at my ignition switch? (brown wire surgery was done 6 months ago)

[racydave]

Try jumper cables, either you still have a weak batt, or the batt terminals are not good and clean.

[mbouse]

i don't doubt your word that you think you have a fully charged and fully functional battery...

just for the heck of it, swap that battery for one from another vehicle that you TODAY witnessed starting an engine. while you have the Spider battery out, take it to AutoZone and have it tested for free. just because you have a 12 volt reading, that is no indication of how many cranking amps you have available, and might not be the best test for a shorted cell.

starters generally don't go bad sitting a couple of months. if the starter was the trouble, you should have heard/seen indications of issues the past several times you used it.

a weak battery that started your 2 litre last fall, may have failed or gotten weaker during the months of inactivity.

[riderrich]

Thanks guys, I will do this today before going thru all the trouble of pulling the starter. I will let you now what I find.

[So Cal Mark]

since you have a voltmeter, why not test before swapping parts? Measure voltage at the starter while trying to crank the engine. If it's still in the 11-12v range, measure voltage at the lower starter terminal while cranking.