Help, won't start

[jayb53guy]

went to autozone of all places and the camaro died. I thought it was the positive cable at first swapped it, no luck. The battery is charged, everything is working as advertised, but when I turn the key, nothing. I mean, nothing. No clicks, no vibes, no nothing. All the lights work, radio...etc. I swapped out the starter and solenoid, and no luck there either. I thought maybe the starter was locked up, but that wasn't it.

Anyone have a suggestion? I have a bad feeling I am going to be shooting wires, oh what fun..

[Cardinal]

Sounds like neutral safety circuit to me. Check with a test light or volt meter for voltage when you hit the start position on the ignition key. If memory serves me right, it's the purple wire on the starter that goes to the "S" side of the solenoid.

[jayb53guy]

Pretty strange how I have 12.5V at the battery, but when I put the meter down to the same wire on the solenoid I get like 1.7V....I think that neutral safety switch may be my culprit...I hope anyway.

Thanks.

[Cardinal]

Check all of the grounds too. Had a fist fight with 68 Camaro that did the same thing you're fighting. Turned out that the ground strap from the firewall to the engine valve cover bott was loose.

[jayb53guy]

Just tried jumpering the purple & purple/white wires and still had nothing. I thought jumpering those would eliminate the neutral switch. I may run a ground just to eliminate it...Thanks!

[jayb53guy]

I got nothing. This blows.

Time to start shooting wires.

[Scooby]

Originally Posted by jayb53guy

Pretty strange how I have 12.5V at the battery, but when I put the meter down to the same wire on the solenoid I get like 1.7V....I think that neutral safety switch may be my culprit...I hope anyway.

Thanks.

Are you talking about the positive lead to the starter from the battery? If so then that's your problem. Also, checked the inline fuse on the starter lead.

[jayb53guy]

Originally Posted by Scooby

Are you talking about the positive lead to the starter from the battery? If so then that's your problem. Also, checked the inline fuse on the starter lead.

Its a brand new wire. It was the first thing I changed. Its been a long day, and its getting longer...

[COPO]

At least it's not raining or snowing.

[Scooby]

still shouldn't have a voltage drop on the that lead from the battery to the starter. May have a slight drop but not from 12.5 to 1.7 maybe 12.3 or so.. netural safety switch has nothing to do with that lead

[jayb53guy]

Originally Posted by Scooby

still shouldn't have a voltage drop on the that lead from the battery to the starter. May have a slight drop but not from 12.5 to 1.7 maybe 12.3 or so.. netural safety switch has nothing to do with that lead

I have checked it with the key in every position. Using the same ground, battery terminal 12.5, the post on the solenoid 0.

Just for grins i hooked a set of jumper cables up to my battery and tapped the old starter, it spun like it was new. WTF? This is ridiculous. How do you lose voltage in a 32" piece of wire?

[jayb53guy]

Originally Posted by COPO

At least it's not raining or snowing.

I have a garage, and another car....

[Qwik75LT]

I had the same problem on my 75. Turned out to be the starter switch on the column under the dash.

John

[1owner72]

I had a problem like that on my Pontiac. Turned out the rebuilt starter was also faulty even though it worked on the bench. Put a load on it and nothing happened. Check again to make sure your starters are good.

[GoldenOne7710]

Have you tried to see if it would start an ANY of the gears? I've seen the linkage get screwed up for no apperent reason. Turn the key all the way over like you're gonna start it, then simply move the gear stick through all the gears and see if anything "clicks" then.