1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I just got my car together and now the damn thing won't start. It won't turn over and the starter won't even click. I've got everything hooked up, but the starter will not engage. The small purplish colored ignition wire that goes from the ignition to the starter is not getting any power from the ignition. The fuel pump wouldn't come on for a few hours either. So we thought it might be the VATS or some kind of theft deterrant crap. BUT.. All of a sudden the fuel pump came on and now it comes on everytime you turn the key on, but we didnt make any changes it just decided to come on??? So I kinda ruled out the VATS since the pump came on. Its a racetronix pump by the way.

Anyways my coil packs are firing, but none of my dash lights are working when you turn the key on. The back light comes on when you turn the head lights on and the airbag light will come on, but no check engine, security, etc will flash like it should when you turn the key on. I don't know if the former owner of this car pulled the bulbs out of the dash lights or not but I'm gonna find out tomorrow. The neutral safety switch is hooked up, all the grounds are connected, and the starter is wired up correctly also... We pulled the starter relay and jumped the connection and the starter engaged and the motor turned over for the first time. The relay is good so we checked the fuse box and the relay was not getting any power from the ignition. So, WTF is going on here? Any ideas???

We are about to lose our minds so if you have any suggestions they are much appreciated! This is a brand new motor, transmission, and hell the car is new to me also. So thats why we are scratching our heads so much because alot of wiring and stuff has been tinkered with by the former owner as I bought this car rolling minus engine/trans..

Thanks,
Matt

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

By the way.. We checked the starter fuse under the hood and it gets 12 volts of power when you turn the key to the start position. But like I said above the starter relay was not getting 12volts so we pulled the relay out and used the positive junction right next to the fuse box and jumped the relay connections in the fuse box and the motor turned over. So whats the deal with that? Why is the starter "fuse" getting 12 volts, but the starter "relay" isn't getting power?

chuckyt1

iTrader: (33)

I know you said all the grounds are hooked up but, I had something very similar to this happen. Lights worked, fuel pump was intermittent, and the starter wouldn't engage. Turned out to be a broken ground wire on the drivers side head. I'm new to the LS1 so take it fwiw

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I'm pretty sure everything is grounded correctly.. I'm gonna double check everything again though. Thanks

ls1408cp

iTrader: (37)

here is a pic of mine over kill but it works

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I've got one like the one in your pic that isn't on the engine yet. I got it off a 5.3 truck motor, but I'm gonna put it on mine to see if it helps. Appreciate the pic..

btw.. I finally got the radiator hose straightened out and got it on the passenger side like its suppose to be. Thanks for the help!

ls1408cp

iTrader: (37)

what about the interior grounds under the dash

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

Ok we figured it out FINALLY. The fuse for the dash lights/guages was blown. We fixed that and the starter engaged perfectly and it turned over. Then we had no fire from the coil packs and the fuel pump wouldn't work half the time. So we started tracing things again. We hooked up a OBDII scanner and with just the cord hooked up not even having the scanner on it would turn the pump on, starter engage, and crank up with fire from the coils. So we then realized it was a ground somewhere causing all of our problems. So after about 2 hours we realized that 1 of the 2 grounds on the back of the head had broken in half. We fixed that and now its perfect.

Gotta slap some belts on it, hook up the O2 sensors, wire up the water pump, put the rest of the exhaust on it and shes good to go. Thanks guys!

ls1408cp

iTrader: (37)

glad you found it

Slo_240sx

iTrader: (17)

I hate it when that happens. Glad you got it.

chuckyt1

iTrader: (33)

Gremlins - i hate those wires on the back of the heads...

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I actually spliced and lengthened the grounds and ran them to the fender well and grounded them there so you could actully see them..

chuckyt1

iTrader: (33)

Wish I had done that - would have saved me a day or two of "searching"

LS1-450

iTrader: (33)

Same **** happened to me. Although, in my case, the ground was connected & looked fine. A closer inspection revealed a hair line crack in the connector. It was litterally hanging on by a thread & not enough to create a good ground.

Glad you're up & running.