I went to crank over an FC the other day to check for oil leaks and make sure it was building oil pressure and nothing happens.

Once the key is turned to the ON position, all the dash lights work and everything seems normal, but turn the key to START and theres nothing, not even a click.

I tested the solinoid wire (black with white stripe) and it shows 2 volts when the key is ON and stays that way once the key is turned to START.

The starting relay is fine...so what else could be wrong? Why is the solinoid wire not getting 12V?

Any help is appreciated!

 

If you jump the starter wires, does it turn over?

If I remember right...there's a pretty good writeup in the haynes manual on testing this exact thing.

 

Have you tried jumping the car? Sometimes there is enough juice to power the dash lights and warning lights, but not enough to get the starter to turn over, or even get the solenoid to function.


BC

 

Faulty ignition switch is also something to consider.

 

do the lights work???

If not, then you have a bad battery

 

Hey Joe,

You should test in this order:

Black/white at solenoid with solenoid disconnected
black white at starter cut relay with relay present
black green at starter cut relay with relay unplugged
black green at clutch interlock switch
black red at clutch interlock switch
ignition switch

MSN me if you need more info, page 50-16 of S4 wiring diagram, may be a liittle different if s5. I'll be glad to help.

 

Is the jumper wire missing off the security system plug? I mixed the two up when I swapped harnesses, and had the same symptoms you are explaning.

edit: ^ yeah starter cut relay was the word I was looking for!!

 

Yup, i replaced the one on my 91 a month ago.

 

When this happened to me it was my battery terminals. Everything worked fine in the ACC/On positions, then completely cut out when I turned the key to Start. I thought it was the ignition switch at first, but decided to replace my new (~500 miles) battery terminal connectors. Guess what? It worked...

Test the voltage directly after the terminals when you try to start it. On mine, there's some exposed wiring right after where the terminal connectors are (centimeter maybe). I test them there.

P.S. Never buy the painted battery terminals. They suck...

 

When this happened to me..I could not for the longest time figure it out....then I had someone look at it and they traced the wires to determine that was the clutch switch wire. So I just cut it and put in a new wire straight to my ignition from the starter.....so that cut out having to even depress the clutch. I could just turn the key and bam...it starts