Car won't even crank...

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2XDusterGirl

2XDusterGirl

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My 1974 plymouth duster has had an on going issue of when I turn the key absolutly nothing will happen.
It tends to act up when it's warm out for example if I stop for gas, when I'm done and ready to fire it back up nothing will happen. I will turn the key and the car WILL NOT CRANK. It just happens randomly too... will fire right up one day and not the next.
New parts...
Voltage regulator
starter
battery
neutral safety switch
starter relay
key switch
resistor
electronic ignition
All 74 seatbelt lock have been removed or disconnected.
Ive gone thru all the wiring too.
Please help....
 
When it does it again, try to have someone next to the starter relay listening and feeling to see if it actuates. If not, the problem is upstream - neutral safety switch, ignition key, wiring. If it does click, you should hear the starter solenoid make a loud clunk. If not, either your starter or wiring to it is bad (ex. corroded connectors). Of course a bad ground could affect most above.

Given what has been replaced, my guess would be the neutral safety switch (NSS) doesn't know it is in P or N, probably due to wear in the shift linkage. Simple to test. Disconnect the NSS wire from the starter relay (brn wire, spade connector) and measure ohms with a multimeter from it to ground. Should be <10 ohms in "P" or "N" and >10k ohms in other gears. You don't state manual or auto and what transmission.
 
Its an auto... the nss is brand new (of course new parts can be faulty) car won't start in P or N.
Also, I've tried jumping it with a screwdriver at the relay and the starter clicks but the car still doesn't crank.
 
if it doesnt do anything at the starter relay, try jumping it at the starter and soleniod. it sounds like a bad connection at the starter or the solenoid is bad
 
So, yesterday I couldn't get the car going again after stopping to get gas. I went to fire her back up and she wouldn't crank.
But TODAY in the driveway cold as can be it fired up immedietly.
 
my money is on the starter or solenoid. could be a loose or bad connection at the starter. next time it does it, jump it at the starter. if it doesnt engage, i am going to say that the solenoid is bad. if it does, i think it would be safe to move on to something else. you will get other thoughts.
 
You missed my point. The NSS and wiring can be good, but the transmission misadjusted, a common problem. Anyway, since you get the solenoid to engage but the starter doesn't turn, that narrows it to (maybe) a bad starter or bad wiring.

Is the engine connected well to the battery neg terminal (a big wire w/ no corrosion)? Measure the voltage drop between them when the solenoid actuates, should be <1 V. Did you clean and sand the starter and engine contacts? Measure the drop from starter aluminum body to battery neg, should also be <1 V when cranking. Does your battery maintain >10 V? Even better, measure the voltage drop from the big lug on the starter to the starter housing. If <10 V, don't blame the starter. If >10 V, the starter might be bad. It could also be that teeth are missing on your torque converter, which can jam the starter teeth sometimes. If so, you usually hear rattles sometimes when starting. Usually, with your symptoms, the solenoid contacts are pitted so they don't quite touch. If you need a new starter, I recommend the "mini starter" from Magnum engines (~85-95 Dodge trucks).

For all those viewing, if you don't have a multimeter, buy one. I got ~6 free at Harbor Freight w/ coupon and keep one in all my cars. If you can't use one, search youtube. You are helpless otherwise. Refusing to get one trys my patience, like with the neighbor who stopped by with his 50's Buick with electrical problems. I looked at his dome light, w/ frayed fabric wiring (6 V) and showed him what to do with a multimeter to test things, and even showed him the problem. Told him to buy a multimeter. He shows up a few weeks later, same questions, no multimeter, says he doesn't understand electricity because he majored in music. Told him buy one and check youtube. If stuck on the road with no multimeter, you can use the dome light brightness as a poor man's voltmeter.
 
Next time "it does this," try the following:

With the key held into "start" with one hand, wiggle the shift lever through park and neutral

If no result, get out, open the hood, and be careful not to bump anything more than you must

Identify the neutral safety switch wire on the start relay. It will be the "non yellow" "push on" connector of the two. Remove that wire, take a clip lead and ground that terminal

CAUTION: With this terminal grounded, the car WILL START IN ANY GEAR so be careful

If no result, probe the two push on connectors on the relay with a test lamp while turning the key to start.

Make sure the yellow wire gets power, make sure the one clipped to ground has NO power when holding the key to start

Listen for a click from the relay

Finally, with a metal object, jumper across the two large exposed terminals on the relay. The starter should crank

If the car does not start using the key, and the above is met, replace the relay

If the starter does not crank when jumpering the exposed terminals of the relay, jumper the two starter terminals right at the starter. Could be the wiring!!! between the relay and the starter.
 
In your list of new parts I didn't see a new battery, how about trying a different battery?? sometimes the obvious gets over looked.
 
2XDusterGirl said:
My 1974 plymouth duster has had an on going issue of when I turn the key absolutly nothing will happen.
It tends to act up when it's warm out for example if I stop for gas, when I'm done and ready to fire it back up nothing will happen. I will turn the key and the car WILL NOT CRANK. It just happens randomly too... will fire right up one day and not the next.
New parts...
Voltage regulator
starter
battery
neutral safety switch
starter relay
key switch
resistor
electronic ignition
All 74 seatbelt lock have been removed or disconnected.
Ive gone thru all the wiring too.
Please help....
Click to expand...
If all those things were changed after the problem started and it still has the same problem, I would bet on battery cables or the main power cable from relay to solenoid.
 
Do the cables just have crimped on ends?? I have had vehicles that get some oil in the lug on the end of the cable and do all sorts of weird things.
 
I had my 75 duster do this- ended up being the pos battery cable at the battery post. Have someone wiggle that or get tension on it when it doesnt start and see if it will start. It all "looked" good. Stupid $10 pos battery cable!
 
My valiant did that for a couple of years. I thought I had a dead spot in the starter. I carried a foot long chisel and the once a month or so that it occurred I would jump the terminals at the starter and it would fire right up. One day, the chisel didn't work and I yanked the starter. The positive battery cable on the starter end had corroded on the inside of terminal and was now too big to make contact with the starter lug. The outside of the terminal was clean shiny metal and should have been good enough to make a reliable connection through the washer on the nut, but it caused an intermittant headache and taught me a nice lesson.
 
2XDusterGirl said:
Anyone think it could be my coil or distributer?
Click to expand...

Alright let's step back a minute:

WHAT is your definition of "will not crank?"

Some terminology:

CRANK: "cranking" the engine, "cranking over" or "turning over" is when the starter motors over the engine when you twist the key to start. This has NOTHING to do with the engine starting, firing, or running.

FIRE: The engine coughs, tries to run, may continue, or may not, but FIRES on one or more cylinders

STARTS, or RUNS Normal operation. You "crank" the engine, it "fires" and "STARTS" and RUNS" and continues running

"STARTS AND DIES" Similar to "FIRES" means the engine coughs, fires a few times, runs for a second or two and dies.


So are you saying the engine does not CRANK or "turn over?" An engine will CRANK with the coil and distributor completely removed from the car.
 
2XDusterGirl said:
The car WILL NOT CRANK.
If I turn the key.... the car doesnt even make a sound.
Click to expand...

OK, forget the coil and distributor, and please go back and read some of the posts over.

Your starter relay looks like this:

4574enf_27.jpeg


This is a simple relay and it has TWO distinct circuits

The FIRST circuit is the COIL which is an electromagnet, and when fed power pulls in what is called the ARMATURE of the relay, and this CLOSES the

SECOND part of the relay which is the CONTACTS

The two small terminals, the "push on" connectors, connect to the COIL of the relay

The two EXPOSED terminals, that is the BIG STUD (bolt) and the "square" looking screw terminal are the CONTACTS of the relay

For a very quick test when the car pulls this stunt, use any metallic object, a screwdriver, coin, etc, and jumper across the two LARGE TERMINALS.

Be careful, as the car can start in ANY GEAR with this procedure, so be sure the car is in park

If this causes the car to crank, we can go onwards and check some other things
 
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