! ! ! Car won't start, need some urgent expertise and help ! ! !

Hi!

Today I drove the Wildcat out to Tucson AZ (500) miles, to take it on the Hot Rod DragWeekend event. I parked
It at the hotel and when I try to start it, I get no sound from the starter, no click or crank. Only the lights come on, on the dash. I tried shortening out the terminals directly on the starter, and it does crank, so I (we) thought it was the solenoid. I bought a replacement starter at AutoZone, but it was the wrong mounting tabs, but I did try to use the solenoid, and mounted
That on the old starter- still nothing, only lights when turning the key.

Any ideas?!? I'd like to try and fix
It so I can attend the event (racing begins on Thursday).

There are four terminals on the solenoid
large +wire
yellow
red
some type of copper terminal that connects to the starter straight down.

What should I measure at the different terminals with the key settings?

I've so far been able to work on it in the hotel parking lot without anyone complaining.. Phew..

 

I tried that on my 65 GS and after trouble shooting everything without any luck, I found that my positive connection on the firewall was a bit corroded. After cleaning that up it could get all the power again and it ran flawless. On my 65 it sat next to the brake booster, were the connections go to/from the inside of car.
Hope that helps you.

 

Yes- bulkhead connector corrosion , ignition switch or it's connection or open wire seem most likely now-good luck!

 

So if the switch doesn't work, it will act like it's in gear and there's no contact, that makes sense- it would behave just like that. Something is up with the switch on the car, where there's short cable connecting across, that's not stock, I'll see if anything has come lose there. Thanks!

 

The large positive cable from the battery goes to a junction block that's
Sitting at the back of the inner fender towards the firewall, and then another large cable connects to the solenoid, this is the one, right, not the two smaller cables?.

Does the solenoid operate on the smaller cables, and then the starter picks up the juice from
The large cable, or does the solenoid also trigger from the large cable in some way? If the solenoid ran on the small cables, it would still click, without the large cable being 100%?

 

Shouldn't I be able to measure the volts at the solenoid if the key is turned, and if the juice is there it should engage?

This where I'm not sure what the difference between the small yellow/red cable is?

 

I second the Neutral Safety switch. Try cranking it while moving the shifter around--it might be a simple alignment issue if you're really lucky. I've seen that before where 'Park' and Neutral' have slack that makes them Parkish and Sorta Neutral.

Patrick

 

I would bet that half assed fix is your problem.

 

Lol.. I could never figure out why that wire was in there. I'll take a look shortly.

 

Ok, cool. I wasn't sure which of the wires was the important one. I'll take a look at the one that leads to "S". Amy idea what the other one is for?

 

Kimson, next to the junction block you should see two wires in a plastic connector. One will be purple the other yellow. The purple wire goes directly to the starter solenoid, as does the yellow. That wire could be corroded. Try jumping the purple to the junction block where the battery cable is. The other BIG wire/cable goes directly to the starter. If it cranks then next logical problem is the bulkhead connection at the firewall. Next would be neutral safety switch. I don't know if you have a column shift or console, but all you would have to do is jump the two purple wires at the switch to start.


Tom T.

 

In summary...
Just checked the wiring diagram.....
Purple wire to the solenoid (S terminal) will switch the starter on. It comes from the ignition switch, through the neutral safety switch, through the bulkhead connector, and to the starter solenoid.
*Check for 12v at the neut safety switch with key in 'crank'...if it's hot, ignition switch is good.
*Check for 12v at the solenoid (purple wire) with key in 'crank'...if it's hot, bulkhead connection is good.

The junction block on the inner fender is just a connection point for the heavy cables. The other two wires (green) are for the horn relay.

The battery cable at the starter solenoid is always hot.

The yellow wire at the starter solenoid (R terminal) supplies 12v to the ignition coil during cranking. Normally the coil gets about 9v through the resister wire.

That copper terminal from the solenoid to the starter supplies starter with 12v.

Good luck!

 

As always, thanks for all the help guys!

A couple of guys that have a shop here and are following the event stopped by and helped me take a look at it, and we're up and running!

We have 12v through the whole ignition setup all the way to the solenoid when you turn the key, and the same voltage straight from the battery to the solenoid, so in theory it should work, but it doesn't. There's probably a voltage drop in the ignition switch, or maybe somewhere else, that just doesn't let enough juice through. I'm now running a cable from the solenoid to the battery location, and with the key turned, I can start the car with the wire, bypassing the whole circuit. A bit crude, but it will hopefully get me through the event and home!

Thanks again!! I've trying to post a picture, but there seems to be some issue with uploading from the phone.

 

Many racing events will make you demonstrate that the neutral safety switch is functional, by putting the car in gear and turning the key (so nothing happens).

-Bob C.

 

Didn't bother reading the other comments, but it could be your neutral safety switch. If the lights turn on and you don't hear the starter or any clicks then yeah it's the neutral switch. Just turn the car on and hold the brake pedal, put it on neutral , then put it back on park and try to turn the car on again (You may have to do it twice). Try turning the car on again should start up fine. You could google or do some research on how to bypass it. Goodluck!

 

Didn't see this until now, glad it's up and running! If it's like the regular Drag Week, you can probably find some assistance from other competitors. Have fun!

 

From the Hot Rod page!

 

Awesome Possum!! Just sunk a couple of cold ones, and racing begins tomorrow!