Well this is a fun one for all you detectives out there but I need help. Some background info, I’ve got a 79 euro 5 speed that’s been sitting for the better part of 5 years or so that I’m restoring. I’ve replaced the starter, the battery, and the ignition switch. It has a new fuel pump and the fuel system, while a little slow, does work. I’ve also diagnosed the ignition system and all gets the correct readings and works, however spark plugs should be replaced. I’ve also rewired the FOE harness. I guess to say, I’ve either fixed or replaced just about anything needed to start the car but the key hardly, if ever, turns the starter, and when jumping the starter using the jump post it’s pretty much less than half the time that it works. I’ve checked voltage at various points all over the car so if you ask I’ve probably got a number. At one point when the engine was spinning over I did have combustion so I know it will run. If you have any ideas on what’s going on I’m all ears.

 

did you replace the ground strap at the battery?
Is the battery fully charged with a 6 amp battery charger

 

Well I’d like to think the battery is fully charged considering I bought it literally today. As for the ground strap, no it’s not replaced. Do you think that my be the culprit? I’ll try to use a jumper wire in place of the ground strap tomorrow and see how that works.

 

no add,
on a battery jumper cable in addition to the ground strap.
From the neg terminal to the nut on the shock mount

use the multi meter to see whats the standing voltage of the new battery is,
it might need to be charged.

Have you done a CE panel cleaning and added D100 to all the connections?

 

No I haven’t cleaned the CE Board yet but I have seen it and it looks really good, with no visible corrosion. I’ll try adding a jumper cable later and testing the standing voltage, I’ll come back to you on that.

 

So just connected the jumper cable and it didn’t seem to really help unfortunately. I ran a resistance test on the ground strap just out of curiosity and it read around .1 ohms, however, after visual inspection, I think it should still be replaced.

As for the starter, I now hear what sounds like the starter trying to engage but I feel like the engine is causing too much mechanical resistance. It’s not locked up because I can spin it over pretty well. Not sure what to think of it.

Also noticed that despite’s the battery being fully charged (12.8 V) the dash shows only around 11V

 

The dash gague circuit has about 8 connection points that needs cleaned for it to read "accurate", not shocked theres a drop there from the battery itself.

 

I found a splice with a smaller gauge wire made by the PO under the dash for the 50 wire. I took out the splice and corrected it and was able to get the starter to turn over from the key. At this point it seems if I use the starter for more than maybe 30 seconds at a time, then the starter won’t work for either a long time or at all. I’m so confused.

 

Where did the starter come from and what brand is it?

 

It’s a rebuilt Bosch starter from autozone.

 

..could be a sign...

 

After voltage dropping pretty much everything I could, I think that I can say with about 84.6% certainty that the issue is from the ground side. For my next course of action I will try replacing the ground straps from the engine and the battery and will update after that. Starter is getting just about 9.4V when being cranked

 

all of my sources for rebuilt starters are incorrect