SOS Help! First delorean and it wont start, stuck 240 miles from home in N Michigan

[jeffputts]

Hi All, brand new to the DMC world. purchased my first 1982 yesterday. Vin 10242. I went to start it this AM to drive home and nothing. good power to gauges, lights, etc, brand new battery, relays click but starter does not attempt to engage. tried to jump at the posts and did not get spark. attempted relay bypass but not sure if i was on right jumpers. Is there anyone who can help me diagnose? My cell is 860-406-1297

Thanks so much!!

[Jonathan]

A helpful roadside emergency guide can be found here:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?9950-P-J-Grady-Emergency-Troubleshooting-Guide&p=188017&viewfull=1#post188017

I posted a clear PDF version in the 9th post in that thread.

Is your car an automatic or manual transmission? One thing that will do what you're describing with the automatics is not having the shifter all the way up into PARK when trying to start it. I remember finding this out after having a wallet or IPhone or something in that little area in front of the shifter that was blocking it from going all the way forward.

Double check those ignition coil wiring and ballast resistor connections as that will give you no spark too.

[Michael]

If it is an auto put it in neutral and try. Also tap the starter with a broom handle.

Make sure the starter circuit breaker update has been performed.

[eight8toy]

If manual then push it in neutral and pop the clutch with the key turned to on. Did you just buy it and drive 240 miles away from home the same day? Or is the previous owner nearby to help fix?

[jeffputts]

thanks for the quick replies. its an auto, relay update appears to have been done, swapping relays was no help and slamming into park no dice, no start in neutral either. just bought it yesterday and drive about 60 miles to my aunts for the weekend on my way back home which is 240 miles from where i am now. prior owner did not have any other advice except for slamming into park

[Patrick C]

Jeff said this did happen yesterday at a gas station, but slamming it into Park fixed it. Today there is no luck. I told him if this isn’t resolved tomorrow and he’s still in the same place, I would drive over and take a look with some spare parts to try swapping out.

[Jonathan]

Auto, ok. Don't need to slam it into park, just make sure it's not floating down a quarter inch or so from being all the way forward.

I realize you might not have much to compare to, but do you see anything electrical or ignition related that isn't stock? And I mean mostly something either alarm related or perhaps keyfob related. Do you have a keyfob of any kind with the car? Originals did not as they only used a physical key in the door and also in the ignition. Aftermarket alarms or remote entry might have spliced into the ignition circuit somehow and you might not be satisfying it in someway to give the car the ok to start.

Just to back-up slightly, you said it was running fine and then stopped? You got it yesterday and none of this was an issue, but this morning it's a problem? If I read your first post again and you mentioned having electrical, it could just be that the battery got drained enough (for some reason) overnight to not have enough juice left to start the engine. You mentioned it was brand new. Might have happened overnight with door lights staying on or something. How exactly did you try and jump start it?

Michael might be right about a bad starter needing a bump. Did you double check the tightness of the connections on the ballast resistor and ignition coil? Any chance you can post photos from where you are? Engine bay and behind the passenger seat for starters.

[jeffputts]

Its in park just fine not a lot of play there, didnt start in neutral either. There does not appear to be anything aftermarket hooked up, no remote entry, alarm, etc, all fuses were good. It drove fine yesterday, gave me 1 issue starting at first but i put it back into park and started right up. drove about 60 miles in the rain and parked for the night, heavy rains overnight but no signs of moisture in engine or rear compartments. battery is optoma red top with good charge, no lights left on. dash shows around 12v with key on, will take a few pics and post up. tried hitting the starter with a hammer not too hard of course but no luck.

[jeffputts]

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[Bitsyncmaster]

From my schematic it looks like the starter relay control power "white/yellow wire" comes from the the auto ECU. So if it's a bad park/neutral switch you could cut that wire near the relay and make a jumper to touch to 12 volts and get the starter turning. Just make sure your in park.

Not really sure of the wiring on that relay. My schematic does not show a relay ground and don't have the modification schematic. I would have thought they wired the inhibit to the ground side of the relay.

FYI:
Relays use pin 85 for the control coil ground.

[DMC-81]

52700

Congrats on the purchase! I would make sure that red and white wire going to the starter solenoid has a solid connection. It looks a bit flakey.

[Patrick C]

Jeff is back up and running! Bad connection coming from the ignition switch.

[jeffputts]

All fixed. thanks for the help everyone. it was a loose wire at the ignition connector under the column

[AugustneverEnds]

All fixed. thanks for the help everyone. it was a loose wire at the ignition connector under the column

Glad to hear you are back on the road and it was a simple fix. Did your car have some kind of aftermarket alarm system or cruise control hacked in? I had issues years ago because some previous owner cut into the white/red wire under the column for their crappy alarm set-up. It caused starting and charging issues for two years until I removed all the hack work.

[jeffputts]

Nothing hacked under the column. Just a loose fitting. I'll clean and tighten everything once I get home.