Any tips on trouble shooting the starter?

[Martin64]

The other day I drove my truck to work because it was raining. On the last stop before coming home I shut the truck off and when I went to leave, I turned the key and nothing. I ended up jumping it at the starter. But before I jumped the starter I jumped the solenoid. When the starter didn't engage I jumped across the other pole and it started right up.

So, did I confirm that the starter and solenoid are fine and I should be looking at the neutral safety switch and ignition switch, or did I prove nothing and I'm still at "square 1"?

[truckdude239]

umm sounds like an solenoid to me it your crossed the poles and it started. if it is i'd go head an replace it and the starter but thats just me

[chevy_fatman]

Had the same problem with my truck, I changed the selenoid, it didn't help and it still won't start after the starter gets warmed up, but after the engine/starter cools down it starts the first time I turn the key, might want to get a new starter and get it over instead of fooling replacing selenoids and wind up changing the whole starter

[cdowns]

i'd disconnect the battery then take each wire off of the battery and starter and shine them up with sandpaper/wirebrush put a light coat of dielectric grease on each connection and put them back together don't spkip doing the battery to frame to engine ground either

[Martin64]

Well, when I turn the key I get nothing. No turn over, no clicking, no nada. I did clean the battery terminals so that's good and I checked the ends to make sure they have good connections. So that's why I'm leaning toward the ignition switch or the neutral safety switch.

How do I by-pass the neutral safety switch?

[Premium72]

take your starter to advanced or any other parts store. have em test it. theyll tell you if its good or bad..if good. fix your ingnition..although i wouldnt think it was that..ive changed many a starter in my short life and that always seem to fix the prob. start with the easy stuff..

[53burb]

There are 2 sets of wires on the NSS. IIRC, the purple wires (on the right) need to be unplugged and "jumpered" together. The other set (green I think) is for the reverse lights. I will check it out tonight if you like if no one else chimes in...

[Martin64]

Originally Posted by 53burb

There are 2 sets of wires on the NSS. IIRC, the purple wires (on the right) need to be unplugged and "jumpered" together. The other set (green I think) is for the reverse lights. I will check it out tonight if you like if no one else chimes in...

Thanks, that's what I was looking for...., I'll give that a try sometime this weekend because I think it's going to be easier to do than pulling the starter.

[53burb]

I double checked my Burb last night. I rememembered correctly, purple wires are the ones needed to bypass the NSS and the green is for the backup lights...

[Bill72BB]

Just FYI , Check the Battery ground at the block , could be loose or the grd cable worn .

[PanelDeland]

I had a F(ouled up),O(ld)R(undown)D(odge) That would fail to start.It wouldn't start at the solenoid and would set for a while then it would start.I could get it to start if I put the jumper cable to the starter post.I messed with it for a couple months(I was a broke teen at the time)before I had enough money to replace the starter.I went to pull it and the cable slid right out of the insulation.I replaced the cable and it worked fine after that.The 20 year old battery cable had corroded in two inside the insulation.

[GlennBrittain]

I developed the dead silence when tuning the key to start with a hot motor. Since I was ordering headlight relays, I added a remote starter solenoid. This eleminates the purple wire being overheated by the headers, only the heavy battery positive cable goes to the starter. This fixed my problem.

[70 shorty]

I'd do as others have suggested and take the starter off and take it to Advance Auto or Auto Zone if you have one close by and have it tested for free.

[Long Roof]

Make sure you clean all ground wires. There are many. Some at the firewall, some at the rad support, some from frame to body. Corroded ground wires have stopped me a few time before.

Aaron

[ChevLoRay]

IF you are running headers....and this isn't an answer to the problem that was originally posted.....AND you have problems starting a hot engine, you MAY find that installing a heat shield on the starter will benefit you. But, bear in mind that a lean mixture will increase the heat within the combustion chamber and THAT MAY be part of the problem. I changed my carburetor, from a 600CFM Edelbrock (AFB-type), to a 750CFM Edelbrock Q-Jet, and had to install the heat shield, which solved MY hot start problem.

But, we should all know that the age of our vehicles, and our desires to keep it as original as possible (for some) can cause some problems that can aggravate the fire out of us. Replacement wiring harnesses are not a bad investment, especially under the hood.

[Martin64]

After not being able to get to it for about a month, it turned out to be the neutral safety switch.