Have never had an issue with my GS until yesterday. Ran out of gas....oops. Put gas in, started with starter fluid 3 times. It started right up, but never long enough to get gas to carb. On the 4th key turn there was nothing. I have since replaced the starter, which it did not have the correct starter for the 455 anyway, and now it does! Still nothing. Pulled the battery and had it tested, only tested at 300CCA. Took the battery from my 442, which is a 775CCA. Still nothing!! The lights do work, the car buzzes with key in and door on, the interior lights work. So I know there is power. But when I turn the key.....absolutely nothing. The gauges react like normal, but no turn over. I am mechanically challenged and don't know what else to do. Could it be a fuse? If it was a starter relay fuse, where would it be in the panel? If anyone has any ideas I'd sure appreciate it. Thank you, Unmechanical Trevor
I marked them before I took them off with tape and put them back in the correct place....But that is unmechanical me talking. I tried to be careful and do correctly but definitely could have failed. Thanks for the note!
The terminal marked "S" should have the purple wire attached to it. I'd double check that. IIRC, the S terminal is inboard
Based on your info maybe solenoid. I would think if fuseable link your lights would not work. If it did it before you replaced starter and you replaced wires correctly looking at engine front purple to left and yellow to right.
Check the ground. Yeah, I know it seems like a BS issue, but if one understands electron/current flow it becomes obvious. A high resistance issue will exhibit such a behavior. Another thing is a "dead/bad" cell in a battery. It may shoe specific gravity is correct, that it holds and shows a correct charge, but fails amperage pull/load tests. Since you used another (and likely a good known battery), than puts you back to ground issues. Another thing may be to put direct 12v power and ground to the starter and see of it spins. Then you start working on elimination of other starter relevant circuit.
Thank you for all the comments! It has surpassed my little (to none really) mechanical experience. I did take the starter off, recheck all the wires and clean the rings. Also had the starter tested, just to verify the starter wasn't bad. I checked the battery cable at the starter and it was showing 12 volts. Put on the other wire/screw and it was 12 volts when key turned. I don't know what else to do in my little knowledge and not sure how to check for a grounding issue. It will go to a mechanic and I hope it is easy for them. On a good note, first time I ever worked on a car and I can now put a starter in a vehicle (like this one, nothing actually complicated) in about 5 minutes. So at least I learned something.
If you have regular wiring,remember that the 2 wires that go to the starter the thin one goes next to the block,the thicker wire goes toward the fender,By the way,you could have lights,as the are on a different line.Bruno.
Did you disconnect the battery BEFORE you replaced the starter? If not, that's the easiest way to melt the fusible links
Sure, could be, but a few minutes with a meter, or test light, and the trouble chart I posted will narrow down the cause so you don't waste time and/or money.
First thing I would check is to make sure we have 12 volts at the purple wire when the key is in the tart position. At that point, you'll know what direction to go in
While you had the starter off did you hit it with some jumper cables? Could be a bad starter. Bad solenoid, bad switch. This is where a meter and it's use is real productive.