Weird starter issue, help!

[appleburger]

No turning over, no click, no nothing. S13 KADE, stock wiring, stock ECU. Battery is tested and charged, tried two different starters both known to be good one is even straight out of the box brand new. I've tested the leads and verified one is getting a constant 12v while the other gets 12v when the key is turned. I don't understand how it's not working when I know the starter & battery are good and have verified the leads to the starter are getting signal.

[1ZlowZ]

possibly bad starter solenoid.
I'd start with that.

[gerardogomez0809]

possibly bad starter solenoid.
I'd start with that.

That is very possible but since he says he bought the starters brand new they should of came with new solenoids. If u turn the key and u don't hear the gear drive engage or any type of noise coming out of the starter it has to be a bad wire, might of gotten pinched or something. Trace your wiring, I know the 240's have two starter ignition wires. Let us know what u find. What brand are the starters you bought?


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[fliprayzin240sx]

Could be a bad ignition cylinder...my shit would do that every so often. Turn the key, it doesnt send the signal to the starter so nothing happens.

[appleburger]

The one that's new is an acdelco, the other was hooked up to a machine at autozone and verified the solenoid is working properly.

What's weird is that by testing the ignition wire at the starter with a voltmeter I know it's getting signal when the key is turned. It doesn't make any sense.

[gerardogomez0809]

That is weird. When I installed my viper alarm with remote start, I had the same problem. Everything would turn on except the starter, no engaging whatsoever. That's when I noticed that our cars had two starter wires. I had tapped into the one that controlled all of my accessories. The one I had to tap into is the one I had connected to my turbo timer. It was a pain in the a$$ trying to figure it out


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[Taylor008]

Motor grounded?

[lighter]

could check the wire that connects to the starter, tend to come loose every now and then

[r20crazy]

check the starter cutout switch on the clutch pedal if ur car is a factory manual. if ur a conversion u dont have this circuit. on the clutch pedal if the rubber 'stopper' on the clutch pedal is missing and not disengaging the cutout switch when clutch pedal is pressed down car will not start. if missing you can tape a couple pennys to it or put a bolt/nut into the existing hole. the switch may also be bad, try jumping the switch by disconnecting it and jumpering the harness wires. again this is only valid if originally a manual trans car. hope this info helps

[appleburger]

Thanks for the tips!

It was originally an auto sohc but has been running dohc/5spd for years without issues.

When we jumper it straight to the battery it works just fine. It seems like the ignition circuit is hosed but that's contradicted by the fact the starter ignition lead is getting the 12v it should when the key is turned. I'm baffled.

[Taylor008]

Where are you getting that voltage? At the ignition switch or the starter?

[appleburger]

At the connector that plugs into the ignition lead at the starter