No start, no crank - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

Chugalug · 09-28-2011, 05:10 PM

My 1989 s13 failed to start this morning though the battery is a known good one. I got no crank from the starter and no click from the solenoid. Noticed the battery connection at the starter solenoid was a bit loose so I tightened it up and still no start. Tried to jump it with another battery and got large sparks + high current through jumper cables. Shit a massive brick, yanked those suckers off and noticed no power to clock/accessories.

Detached negative terminal and did some poking around/checking fuses. Re attached negative terminal (produced some serious sparks in the process) and heard a nice little pop/click from somewhere under the hood. Now I have clock/accessory power but my starter wont crank. No more sparks from the battery.

I've been reading this is probably a short somewhere but I've spent some time looking and come up empty handed. Suggestions and insight are very welcome.

Icy13 · 09-28-2011, 06:07 PM

I feel like a broken record, but this fixed my mysterious start issue AND was featured on CarTalk so, what the hell, give it a try:

Check the clutch interlock relay (or in auto, the park/neutral relay) which is the 30A relay to the starter. $10 fixed a mysterious and maddening problem in my s14, may as well give it a try.

Flexin · 09-28-2011, 06:14 PM

guy above me sounds right, but if its sparks everywhere it sounds like they are attached to ground and not the actual terminals

Chugalug · 09-29-2011, 07:45 PM

Starter solenoid had a hairline fracture and a loose terminal. The short might have been produced at the solenoid. I replaced the starter and now have no problems. This was a strange situation because the starter died without warning overnight instead of a typical failure over a longer period of time.

Also if I'm not mistaken Canadian s13's (1989 & 1990 model year at least) do not have the clutch interlock switch mentioned earlier. FSM suggests it's on usdm models only.

Thanks for the replies!

09-28-2011, 05:10 PM	#1
Chugalug Join Date: May 2011 Location: Edmonton Age: 30 Posts: 6 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	No start, no crank My 1989 s13 failed to start this morning though the battery is a known good one. I got no crank from the starter and no click from the solenoid. Noticed the battery connection at the starter solenoid was a bit loose so I tightened it up and still no start. Tried to jump it with another battery and got large sparks + high current through jumper cables. Shit a massive brick, yanked those suckers off and noticed no power to clock/accessories. Detached negative terminal and did some poking around/checking fuses. Re attached negative terminal (produced some serious sparks in the process) and heard a nice little pop/click from somewhere under the hood. Now I have clock/accessory power but my starter wont crank. No more sparks from the battery. I've been reading this is probably a short somewhere but I've spent some time looking and come up empty handed. Suggestions and insight are very welcome.

09-28-2011, 06:14 PM	#3
Flexin Zilvia Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Wichita Posts: 253 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	guy above me sounds right, but if its sparks everywhere it sounds like they are attached to ground and not the actual terminals __________________ 01 S2000 super slammered

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09-28-2011, 06:07 PM	#2
Icy13 Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 308 Trader Rating: (5) Rides Gallery: Icy13 Feedback Score: 5 reviews	I feel like a broken record, but this fixed my mysterious start issue AND was featured on CarTalk so, what the hell, give it a try: Check the clutch interlock relay (or in auto, the park/neutral relay) which is the 30A relay to the starter. $10 fixed a mysterious and maddening problem in my s14, may as well give it a try.

09-29-2011, 07:45 PM	#4
Chugalug Join Date: May 2011 Location: Edmonton Age: 30 Posts: 6 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Starter solenoid had a hairline fracture and a loose terminal. The short might have been produced at the solenoid. I replaced the starter and now have no problems. This was a strange situation because the starter died without warning overnight instead of a typical failure over a longer period of time. Also if I'm not mistaken Canadian s13's (1989 & 1990 model year at least) do not have the clutch interlock switch mentioned earlier. FSM suggests it's on usdm models only. Thanks for the replies!