Just wanted toi pick everyone's brains about my most recent dilemma... My 68 Fleetwwod has been sitting for approx 4-5 months without a start. I hit the carb with a little starting fluid, and it cranked a few times and then stopped. When I turn the key, I get the "click" but nothing happens... It doesn't turn over. I tried jumping, and it did not do the trick. Any ideas?

Could be a shorted battery. Sometimes when a battery shorts even a jump start won't do the trick. I'd start there. Have the battery checked at the auto parts store.

Maybe the starter is stuck....? Tap it with a hammer.

I'd check the battery voltage. If you get less than 12V (fully charged is actually 12.56V) then you'll need to swap in a good battery or charge it. These big motors need alot of juice to kick over!

It's not too suprising that jumping didn't help. When I first brought my '70 home, I'd nearly drained a battery trying to start it, so we tried jumping off my fiances Nissan Sentra. LOL, it was pathetic. Even with her revving up the motor, the Cadillac would give about one good turn, then just start cranking slower and slower...

if you verify that the battery or the starter is not the problem, check ground cables. if they are original i'd replace them. was the car sitting outside? GM ground cables are notorious for corroding on the inside of the insulation. i had a similar problem with a truck i have. and i spent money on a new starter and battery to find that my ground cable was junk. so be sure to test every possibility befoore you go buying anything. anything expencive atleast.

I didn't throughly read the original post. I'd say the battery is just dead.

Thanks fellas.... The battery is reading a bit low and I did notice that both of the ground straps that run from the a-arms to shock tower, etc are corroded through... Just to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing :annoyed: , before it was parked for the big sleep, I had a problem with the power lead to the starter. The wire had hit the manifold and melted through th jacket, causing the power lead to weld itself to it, thus energizing the frame and causing the beast to die in the middle of the road... I freed up the wire, and it started right up. I replaced the wires to both the starter and generator once I had it back in the driveway, and it has not moved since...I know the connections are good, as is the wiring, and since it tried to turn over before it stopped cranking altogether, I want to believe that it just needs more juice... I'll throw it on a charger and give it some time, and will get back to you guys later today... Thx again, and I rust in peaces :rant2:

not having the ground straps from the a-arms to the shocks isn't going to give you any troubles starting. Frankly, I dunno why thopse are there. Static buildup on the wheels? I've never seen them on another car...

What you should check is the ground on the starter. My car has a really big (like 1" wide) ground strap running from one of the starter bolts to the frame. Dunno if others have that, but if you check the resistance from the bolts securing the starter to the motor to the negative battery cable you can see how good your ground there is.

measuring resistance with the ground straps is okay but the best way to do it is a voltage drop. that will be a lot more precise. and it is better to do a voltage drop with cbales like battery cables too. i measured the resis. with my neg batt. cable and i only had like .5 ohms but with the voltage drop i had like 8V !!! that ment that only 3V were only getting to the starter plus who knows how much aperage was lost with the wire. another way you can tell if the cables are bad is if you try and crakn the engine, of course nothing will happen in your case, but if any of the wires are hot after trying to crank it for a while that is where your resistance is.

Make sure your battery cables are clean especially where they attach to the battery. Every so often, my 1968 Convertible will just refuse to start (I can tell that its the cables because my mickey mouse underhoot light will not light either, remove, clean and replace the cables, the light lights up and the car starts. :band:

The first time this happenned, I was across the street from a sears shop and I actually carried the battery in for a test.

It was fully charged.:helpless:

Hi, in my experience, GM engines, especially Cadillac Big Blocks, need a large, high quality battery to start them. This is under normal circumstances, but when a car has been sitting up for a while, you need a lot of power. I tried the Advance Auto and Auto Zone batteries, and I was disappointed in the 4-6 month lifespan, that the 59.99 batteries had. I tried NAPA and Carquest, and the batteries lasted for a year or 14 months, but the cost was 76.99 for the ones I bought. So, finally I tried the AC-Delco brand batteries, and they have lasted for 6-7 years for only 5 to 10 dollars more than NAPA.