Hey sorry if this have problem have been posted, but I did in fact search, but couldn't find it. Well anyways, here goes nothing.

I'm not much of a mechanic myself, so bare with me, but do own a 1974 In-line 6 and I haven't had much trouble with it.

The other day when I went to work with the car, it ran fine and during my lunch break as well. But When I was getting off that's when I was having trouble with the car. It stutter and wouldn't start up, so I sat there for about twenty minutes to let the alternator recharge, so it did. But when I got home it was fine, so then I tried to start the car back up about 5 minutes after shutting it off It wouldn't start back up.

It stutter again, but then after that nothing except from the clicking from the starter. The next day same thing it stutter and didn't wanna start up. about 6 hours later my brother tried to start her up it started right back up, but then after that It wouldn't start up. I'm not sure what it is, this is all new to me and willing to learn. I hope this was thorough for guys to pinpoint the problem. I would appreciate some help from you guys and thanks for your time to read this!

-Adam

Since you can not see electricity, you have to buy a multimeter from Radio Shack or Sears to find out what is going on.

With a meter set to read DC volts measure the voltage pole to pole on your battery it should read 12.4 volts or better. If voltage is low you either have a short or a bad battery (internal short). Pull the negative battery terminal off and charge the battery with an external charger (once again Sears or your local corner auto supply can sell you a charger which I am sure you will find need for again).

Pull your alternator from the car and while at the local auto parts store ask them to check it (they have a machine that can spin it up and load it down to verify operation). If it fails the test it is time for a new alternator, but buy a bigger one. When these cars were new they installed a 32 Amp alternator as the base model. Today your electric fans and stereo draw more current than that. So you will need about 105 Amps if you have lots of added electrical equipment (A/C, electric fans, NOS solenoids, electric fuel pump, pulse wipers, 200 Watt Stereo, LineLoc, etc.). Generally the price is the same for about all the sizes so bigger is better up until the frame of the alternator changes (at around 120-150 Amps); and you do not want that hassle.

Once you have a good alternator and a good battery then the only two things left are a bad starter motor (which your corner store can also test for free) or a bad electrical connection. Since it is trying to start the usual suspect is a bad ground. With as much current as a starter draws you will be overloading and melting the remaining wires if it is a bad ground so look for smoke.

Big Dave

Do it at home backyard mechanic method! Buy or borrow a multi meter as Dave suggested and check your battery voltage. Set the meter to +DC Volts. Measure with the black lead on the negative post and the red lead on the positive post of the battery (do not measure through the battery cable terminals measure the battery directly). As Dave stated you should have 12.3-12.4 vdc. If it is low your battery needs a charge, you can charge it but we still need to troubleshoot the rest of the charging/starting system. If the remaining checks are all good then you may have a deffective battery that will not hold a charge but that's not what your symptoms sound like to me. Now, start the car and check the voltage at the + battery terminal again and with the engine running and the alternator making power it should be a minimum of 13.25 vdc but 13.5-14.5 or better is best. Make sure the voltage does not fluctuate. It should be reasonably steady. If it is less than this you will need to check the voltage coming directly out of the alternator before it goes through the regulator (If your car still has the external voltage regulator like mine). You can check the alternator output directly with the engine running (BE CAREFUL!!) at the large stud with the big red wire attached to the terminal on the back of the alternator. Ground the black lead and put the red lead on the terminal. (WARNING- make sure you are careful of the leads around the turning pulleys, fan blades, belts etc. Oh and watch your fingers too!) If the voltage checks good there but is low at the battery then your regulator is defective, if it is low at the alternator then the alternator is defective. You can also disconnect the red wire on the alternator and check the terminal with the wire disconnected to make sure the regulator is not pulling down the alternator output. If it's still bad with the regulator disconnected, the alt. is definitely bad. If this is ok then check your battery terminals and battery posts for corrosion and inspect the condition of your battery cables both pos and negative for frayed wires, corrosion, cuts etc. If your battery is not marked which post is positive and negative, the larger post is always positive and the smaller one is negative, every side terminal post battery I've ever seen has been marked but some of the post type are not marked as well. Anyway, if all of that checks out ok you will need to jack the car up and put it on jack stands for safety, (actually on a 6 cylinder car I think you can do this from the top without jacking the car) and check the connections at your starter which is what is sounds like your problem is to me. Make sure that the small wires connecting to the solenoid are in good condition and not barely hanging on by a few strands of wire or have melted insulation that is allowing the wires to short out against a ground somewhere and are securely fastened to their respective terminals. And do the same for the large 4 gauge wire coming from your battery also. If all of this looks good you will need to pull the starter and take it to your local auto parts store where they should be able to put the starter on a test bench and check it for current draw and operation. If this is good then your problem could still be in your starting circuit, possibly in the ignition switch mounted on the top of the steering column up under the dash. From what you have described it sounds to me more like either a bad connection problem or a starter problem. Usually when batteries go bad they do not recharge themselves from just sitting there. They may regain a residual charge from the chemical reactions in a few cells but normally it is not enough to be the difference between starting an engine or not starting. However, corroded battery terminals, a bad connection, a faulty wire could cause the exact symptoms you are describing and a starter that has become heat soaked can cause this type of intermittent problem also. I hope this helps you find your problem. Good Luck!:thumbsup: