Car suddenly does not want to crank?? Ive tried everything.
10-11-2012, 03:25 PM
#22
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Your apparent inexperience is hampering your troubleshooting. If you don't know how things work, that makes it hard to figure things out. Plus, safety is even more important when you don't know what you are doing. Ignorance can injure or kill.
There are two connections to the starter (if you have another wire on there, it is not supposed to be there). One is the positive battery cable, the other is the purple wire that engages the starter via the key. Jumping it is merely momentarily connecting those two posts together. They make a special switch with some alligator clips on it called a remote starter switch. You connect the two clips to the two posts I mentioned and press the button. That bypasses all other circuitry (including safety measures) and engages the starter.
The same thing can be done by the "junkyard method" by using an old screwdriver to bridge the two terminals together. Sparks will fly and it will scare you the first time you do it, but the starter should crank as long as the terminals are bridged together.
If this works, your positive connection is likely ok, but you are not getting +12v on the purple wire when you turn the key. There are a lot of things in between the key and the starter and there are schematics on my website showing what is involved (may not be helpful, if you don't know what you are looking at), but, that is what you use to trace and troubleshoot.
There are two connections to the starter (if you have another wire on there, it is not supposed to be there). One is the positive battery cable, the other is the purple wire that engages the starter via the key. Jumping it is merely momentarily connecting those two posts together. They make a special switch with some alligator clips on it called a remote starter switch. You connect the two clips to the two posts I mentioned and press the button. That bypasses all other circuitry (including safety measures) and engages the starter.
The same thing can be done by the "junkyard method" by using an old screwdriver to bridge the two terminals together. Sparks will fly and it will scare you the first time you do it, but the starter should crank as long as the terminals are bridged together.
If this works, your positive connection is likely ok, but you are not getting +12v on the purple wire when you turn the key. There are a lot of things in between the key and the starter and there are schematics on my website showing what is involved (may not be helpful, if you don't know what you are looking at), but, that is what you use to trace and troubleshoot.
10-11-2012, 03:54 PM
#24
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10-11-2012, 05:06 PM
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10-11-2012, 05:37 PM
#28
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10-11-2012, 05:53 PM
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Have you tried putting the transmission in Nuetral and attempting to start it? Your gear select cable will not allow it to start if its not adjusted properly. Also 90% of the time you will hear at least a click in the starter if it bad or if the motor is locked. If no click good chance your not getting power to starter.
10-11-2012, 08:23 PM
#32
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One last quick question. This has been happening for about a week or so. After driving there will be smoking coming from the passenger header area. It smells almost like oil burning but I know its not its coming from under the headers about 6 inches from the block. I'm thinking power steering fluid being blown on the headers..it smells like a mix of burning oil and brakes.
10-11-2012, 08:28 PM
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10-11-2012, 10:38 PM
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10-13-2012, 12:29 PM
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I just came through a very similiar issue. My car wouldn't turnover. I checked the clutch safety switch and it seemed good, checked the battery etc. My "starter enable" line had no voltage coming to it. After tearing apart the glove box dash and replacing the theft deterrent relay, I was ready to take it to a dealer. On one last try, I held the key in start and kind of had a little temper tantrum with the clutch....boom she fired right up. Turns out, the connector pins inside the clutch safety switch had kind of worn / bent over time such that they weren't making good contact. 10 min fix, that took me 1.5 weeks worth of troubleshooting to fix. Don't give up!
10-13-2012, 06:00 PM
#39
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I just came through a very similiar issue. My car wouldn't turnover. I checked the clutch safety switch and it seemed good, checked the battery etc. My "starter enable" line had no voltage coming to it. After tearing apart the glove box dash and replacing the theft deterrent relay, I was ready to take it to a dealer. On one last try, I held the key in start and kind of had a little temper tantrum with the clutch....boom she fired right up. Turns out, the connector pins inside the clutch safety switch had kind of worn / bent over time such that they weren't making good contact. 10 min fix, that took me 1.5 weeks worth of troubleshooting to fix. Don't give up!
