I put in the starter after a month of being out and I'm not sure if I hooked it up right. There are two large wires and one small wire that attaches to the solenoid. Now where do the two big ones connect? The seem like they went on the driver side terminal of the solenoid. Remember this is for an 83 n/a... I jumped the solenoid and the starter spun but it sounded like it was going in the wrong direction (not turning the motor over) and when I turn the key I hear the fuel pump but no click from the starter or anything. Any help is appreciated. I would like to drive the car tomorrow if at all possible.

Eric

 

There are 3 terminals on the solenoid. A small one, there can be no confusion with that. Another terminal has a wire from the starter motor. Put both of the larger wires on the third terminal.

 

That’s how I have it. Not turning over or cranking though.

 

Is this a new or newly rebuilt starter? Or did you just replace it after working on something? Do you know if the battery is in good condition?

 

Old starter and I just finished up a long head rebuild after the timing belt went (4 days after purchase of car ). I’m going to put it on the trickle charger overnight and see what happens. If there is not enough power would the solenoid not even click? The volt meter showed 12.3 volts at the battery. I tried a jumper thing also and no go but I’m not sure if it had enough juice..

 

Make sure your battery cables are good. I have a problem where the battery cable was crappy, and the starter would just tick. Also, whenever i honked the horn, the tach would rev up to 4000. (just a thought)

 

If it was working when you took it off, it probably didn't go bad just sitting there.

Yes, I would expect that the solenoid would click. But maybe the battery is really low.

Charge it for a while and see if that solves the problem.

 

Alright I narrowed it down. Turns out the starter is turning over. I thought it was the fuel pump since it seemed smooth. The problem is its not throwing the gear out. I took it off and sprayed (carefully) some penetrating oil then used a 90* pick to run it through the paces a few times. Now I'm wondering, if not a bad battery (will find out tomorrow after the charge is done) should I look into bad grounds. It seems like it is a common problem but my grounds wouldn’t go bad from sitting and I did not undo any ground cables in the course of my work.

 

So worse case you need a new solenoid.

Give the battery a chance to charge. That seems the most likely. BTW battery voltqage will stay around 12v even if the battery is almost dead. You have to test it under a load to check the condition. Thats what those anaylzers at Sears and AutoZone do.