1971 dart Only cranks when I jump the relay.

[jakeborg69]

T

The first clue - or question - should have been "what is that extra wire doing on the relay's solenoid terminal?"

You have two choices in tracing the wires.
1. Unwrap everything and physically follow it. Draw out what you find.
2. Use your multi-meter to identify what connects with what.

In reality, the best method is a combination of these. This what I and some others were trying to get you to do up at the top.
a. Identify and draw or mark all of the components and connections of the relevant circuits.
b. Use the multimeter's voltmeter and resistance functions as appropriate to figure out what connects vs what should connect.
c. Then hunt down the circuit where connections should be getting made and aren't.

Seems like you are struggling with how to make use of the multimeter. I tried to give you a very step by step in post 13 to determine if power is making it from the key switch to the starter relay. Should not need a second person. Place the meter where you can see it and run the test leads as needed.

Two more tips.
a. When checking for resistance and continuity, disconnect the car's battery.
b. Remove the negative cable first, and while you're there clean the contact surfaces of both battery cable clamps and terminal posts.

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I just don’t have much day light after work ends to be out there. I still drive the car every day. It’s my daily driver. So far I’ve been tracing out all the relevant wires and isolating them. Besides the weird push button jumper someone’s wired up everything looks good. I still need to get under the car and trace out the wires too and from the starter. I’ll post picture updates tomorrow with what I’ve found so far.

 

[jakeborg69]

Thank you again to everyone for all of the helpful advice.

 

[harrisonm]

It's the _brown_ wire from the relay to the neutral safety switch that you'd need to ground to see if a bad NSS or related fault is causing your problem. The yellow one is relay +feed from the starter contacts of the ignition switch. If removing the brown wire from the relay and grounding that relay terminal lets you crank the engine with the key, it's a bad NSS, a bad brown wire, or (you hope not) a problem with the actuating finger on the rooster comb inside the transmission. if that test doesn't let you crank with the key, there's a problem with the ignition switch or the wiring from the ignition switch to the relay.

@slantsixdan, I haven't seen a reply from you in ages. How ya doing, buddy?

 

[slantsixdan]

One foot in front of the other, done with most of the slogwork of this but still not done with the paperwork and financial BS about it. Thanks for asking.

 

['73red-duster]

Haven't read everything that has been done so far, but here's the issue with mine. Linkage is so worn, it will not stay adjusted to enact the safety switch. I can adjust it, so that it works for awhile, but doesn't last long, so I wired up a push button start. ( '76 Dart Sport floor shift auto ) I need to find replacement linkage, and get over being lazy, and replace it.