Here we go again. '86 Daytona.
Turn key, starter does not crank, but relay does click. But if I jump the front center terminal on the relay to the positive battery terminal, the starter cranks every time. Relay is brand new. Battery terminals are new and clean. Battery itself is new.
Replace your old parts or the broken ones with the new ones for the prices you can find on an Autozone Specials sale.
What gives?
Last edited by BadAssPerformance; 11-11-2020 at 12:50 PM.
starter solenoid?
1988 Lancer Shelby 2.2TII 1989 Shadow ES 2.5TI 1992 Lebaron Sedan 3.0Auto 1993 Acclaim 2.5TI-A520 Hoard parts now!
Maybe, but would it still crank so easily when I jump the relay?
nm what i said before. if you jump it and it turns over the solenoid should be fine. here the starter diagram if that helps.
1988 Lancer Shelby 2.2TII 1989 Shadow ES 2.5TI 1992 Lebaron Sedan 3.0Auto 1993 Acclaim 2.5TI-A520 Hoard parts now!
Thanx. Think I'm just going to attack it again in the morning with a fresh mind.
is the ground to the tranny hooked up? mine wouldnt start without it, but it would if i jumped it
It's hooked up, but I'll test the wire to see if there's any breaks in continuity.
All wires test good for continuity.
I'm looking at this wiring diagram trying to think how something would operate like this. Three different relays: One factory original, one two years old, and one brand new, all with the exact same result. Something is causing the relay to click, but somehow not sending power to the starter, but the starter still cranks every single time when I jump it.
What circuit am I bypassing when I just jump that relay?
When you jump that wire that goes directly to the starter you are bypassing most everything. The relay on the fender and the ignition switch are the two main things you are skipping. I think I have a pushbutton for a starter circuit if you want to use it.
“If the people of the nation understood our banking and monetary system, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” -Henry Ford
I'd rather not jerry rig this car just yet . . . Although I am half tempted to do an SMEC conversion. The only thing that's stopping me is the headlamp wiring.
what about the safety switches?
1988 Lancer Shelby 2.2TII 1989 Shadow ES 2.5TI 1992 Lebaron Sedan 3.0Auto 1993 Acclaim 2.5TI-A520 Hoard parts now!
You mean the neutral safety switch? The turbo 5-speed cars didn't get them, only the automatics did.
Some manual cars had a clutch switch, but I think that started in '91 though. Sounds like a relay problem if it clicks and no power to the brown wire. Maybe try one that you know for sure works from another car? Maybe the starter solenoid coil is weak but when jumped has less resistance and gets the bendix to engage? My van did this on the way to the smog shop so I had to give it 24 volts to get it to start. The "kick out" winding on the solenoid had broke the solder joint so it would only click. The "hold" winding was the only thing working which didn't have enough pull to engage.
I tried three different relays, one of them brand new, all with the exact same results, so I really don't think it's the relay.
I'm just going to swap the starter out tomorrow, and if that doesn't work, I'll probably set the damn thing on fire. This is getting rediculous.
Adam, I'm pretty confident it's not the starter if you can jumper the relay and it starts right up.
Here is a copy of the FSM wiring diagram
Looking at this diagram you should be able to unplug the the "U" shaped connector on the relay and see continuity to ground on the upper left (as viewed in the diagram) brown/yellow wire.
The yellow wire (S2) should go to 12v when you turn the key to the start position, try testing this with a light as well as a DVM. I've seen a bad circuit where the meter would read good, but with a little load on it the voltage would drop to almost nothing, found the wire damaged under the dash.
The red wire (A1) should be 12v all the time
It sounds like you were putting 12v to the center tab on the relay which isn't used in the schematic so I don't know where that goes.
When did this problem start, and was there anything you did to the car at the same time?
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Dave,
Yeah, I've got the FSMs but haven't gotten too far with it. I did drop the steering column and confirmed continuity to all the ignition wires, but I haven't checked for actual voltage there. I've slept three of the last 48 hours, and with all the little problems from the last month I'm getting overly frustrated with the car.
The last things I did to the car were new injector o-rings and the speedometer cable, and then put about 200 miles on the car before the starter started acting up. At first it just took a couple tries and would kick over, but deteriorated to nothing within a day.
The thing that's bothering me is that the vast majority of the wiring is getting very hard. None of the connectors have any corrosion, a few years back I spent a good amount of time cleaning and greasing every connector to prevent that. But the harness is 22 years old with almost 200K on it, I'm really thinking this is a prelude to a ton of wiring nightmares to come.
How rough is the wiring harness on that parts car of yours?
Nah, believe you me, your wiring is fine. one of My cars has 216,000 miles on it and is perfect. (I may have problems now that I said that) And seen electrical flawless operation in cars with as much as 330,000 miles. If everything looks good, then it's either the relay, or the starter... Have you tried jumping the yellow wire? This would rule out the ignition switch.....Originally Posted by supercrackerbox
Jump it from where to where? At the relay connector to . . . ?
Got it. Had to stretch out the pushrod between the tumbler and the ignition switch, it wasn't engaging fully.
Next up: A suddenly severely sloppy shifter.
The Yellow wire to battery +. This would rule out the ign switch. But You had the dreaded bent push rod syndrome. I had this on a '82 Rampage. If I put +12 v to the yellow wire, the relay would click and the car would start. But I just adjusted the switch because the slotted holes still had room in that case.
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