General Maintenance & Repairs - '93 Z28 Starting Issues

Hi everybody,

I have an issue with my '93 Z28 that has been in the garage a while now. A few years ago I took the interior and AC/heat out. Originally it had a somewhat weak sounding starter, and after I finished with the interior it didn't do anything at all when I turned the key. I figured that something had corroded in the starter or something and it finally went bad, so I just bought a new starter and put it in.

After that there was no power at all. So it sat for about a year, and just today I got time to go work on it again. I found it was just a ground that got disconnected while I was messing with the interior/starter, and now the electrical system is all working again. Unfortunately, when I tried turning it over there was absolutely nothing again.

The only thing I notice is the red brake light comes on on the dash when I try to start it (can't remember if that's normal, it's been so long now), but other than that there is nothing at all. Nothing else changes. Any ideas what could be going on?

Thanks for you help!

Anybody have any ideas? I checked every fuse, etc. that I could think of, but maybe there is something I'm not aware of? Or anything else to check?

Alright, I've done a much more in-depth investigation into what might be going on today, but I'm still stumped.

First, I found the starter relay that is near the glove box and checked that. Everything is fine there. 0V until key turn, and then 12V, so that's good.

Then I looked at the neutral safety switch. I was flipping through a Haynes manual and it said the reverse lights are hooked up through the neutral safety switch, so to check if the reverse lights work to see if the switch is alright. They work fine, so my assumption is that the switch is fine (though I can't be absolutely certain).

One final thing, I hooked up a jumper cable directly from the positive terminal on the battery to a long piece of metal, and reached down and touched the small terminal on the starter solenoid (the "S terminal" I believe?) and it turned over perfectly.

So, it's obvious that the problem is that the small solenoid terminal is not getting the voltage when the key is turned, but I'm not exactly sure why.... Any ideas for what to try next?

Thanks again for any help you can give..

Edit: The center console is off, and I just noticed as I was out there; there is a small silver cylinder in front of the shifter, attached to the shift lever by a metal bar (appears to be what doesn't allow you to leave park without the brake on), and it was really hot. I wasn't able to touch it for more than about a second before pulling my finger off. Is that normal (it's also suspicious because my "BRAKE" light comes on on the dash when I turn the key)?