I recently replaced my starter. The original starter from 26 years ago worked, but started to act up. The new starter I bought ended up being bad so I warrantied it, got another new (refurbished) starter and had them test it in the store. Everything checked out, I installed said starter and all I get when I turn the key is a “click”, nothing else. I tested my battery, it’s holding 14.6V, looked over the wiring to the battery and alternator that lead to the starter and everything checks out. I replaced all my fuses and I still don’t get anything but a click. Any idea what could be going on?

 

park-neutral switch?

the skinny wire that goes to the starter should have power on it when the key is in the 'start' position. the fat wire should have power all the time. if you jumper from the fat wire to the skinny wire terminal, the starter should crank over.

 

Is there a neutral safety switch on a M47 trans? Also I am getting power through the skinny wire with key turned and fat wire always has power. I’m starting to think I may have a grounding issue somewhere. There’s a blue (-) wire near the starter (+) wires. It looks like it should bolt to the block? Any idea if that’s correct?

 

no neutral switch on a stick shift at least not back in the 80s/90s.

if you suspect a ground problem, take your volt meter, clip the ground lead to the battery - terminal, and probe the starter motor body with the + lead, then have someone crank the key. if you see any more than a small voltage while the key is turned to 'start', then there's a bad ground.

the starter grounds to the engine block where its bolted on... so do the same test with the volt meter from the battery - terminal to the engine block.... if that also reads significant voltage when the starter is cranked, then the engine block isn't well grounded. try from the battery - terminal to the car chassis, like the relay bracket or something, if THAT reads voltage, then I'd be looking at the battery ground cable. if that doesn't, and you do read voltage (during 'start') from chassis ground to the engine block, then its the engine block ground cable.

 

You can also use a large breaker bar and socket to turn the engine over a hair. The solenoid might be hitting a weird spot on the flywheel. I had to do this after replacing the starter on my 245. Hasnt had an issue since.

 

my '73 bug used to do that all the time. got used to push starting it a lot...

 

Any updates?

 

yeah seriously i had to do that on a cessna one time.. not very confident jumping in that plane .. lol ..

 

I had the same problem yesterday night the engine does not crank with the key but started perfectly when I give connect positive wire of the starter to the battery directly. After a lot of investigation I found the problem to be loose relay underneath the steering wheel.