Ignition troubles

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roadsterdude

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Howdy,

I have a 68 Dodge Dart with a 273 and automatic tranny.
Its been sitting for a while and unfortunately some critters decided to live under the hood.
I got it all cleaned up and tried to fire it up.
It wouldnt start using the ignition key, so I tried to start it by jumping the starter relay solenoid. It worked.
Any ideas? I guess I can install a remote switch so I don't have to open the hood and jump the solenoid every time I want to drive it.
Would appreciate the help. Been away from the mopar scene so I'm a little rusty.

Thanks You...
 
Replace your starter relay or find a donor to see if that,s what the problem is.
Do you have start voltage going to the relay with the key turned fully to start ?
It could be a bad ignition switch, But I am not a tec here, so give a tec time to jump in and help you farther, Welcome and enjoy this great site.
 
memike said:
Replace your starter relay or find a donor to see if that,s what the problem is.
Do you have start voltage going to the relay with the key turned fully to start ?
It could be a bad ignition switch, But I am not a tec here, so give a tec time to jump in and help you farther, Welcome and enjoy this great site.
Click to expand...

I thought it was the started relay, so I purchased a new one..
Still same issue.
 
Check the Bulk Head to see if they chewed up any wires there. The Ignition triggers the starter relay and it sounds like you have lost power in that circuit somewhere. Trace it all the way back to the ignition switch.
 
sounds like a neutral safety switch issue. On 68,I believe it is on the base of the steering column near the firewall by the brake pedal :read2:
 
Mad Dart said:
Check the Bulk Head to see if they chewed up any wires there. The Ignition triggers the starter relay and it sounds like you have lost power in that circuit somewhere. Trace it all the way back to the ignition switch.
Click to expand...

Nothing chewed up by the bulkhead..
I did trace the wire and did a continuity test and I followed the yellow wire off the starter relay all the way to the ignition and it was complete.
Thank You BTW..
I copied a wiring diagram online and was able to trace most of the ignition wires to were they were supposed to go..
 
yellow68runner said:
sounds like a neutral safety switch issue. On 68,I believe it is on the base of the steering column near the firewall by the brake pedal :read2:
Click to expand...

I suspected this was well. I traced the wiring diagram yesterday and the wire
for the neutral safety switch comes off the starter relay(brown wire) and towards the bottom of the car to the transmission. I did not have time yesterday to raise the car up so I cant see were the wire goes. But I have a center console, so is the neutral safety switch in there? or is it on the side of the transmission. I think it is in the center console..going from memory..
I will check on that when I get home from work.

Thanks again..
 
Actually it's in both locations. There is a switch on the transmission that is half the circuit with the switch on the console that goes to the starter relay. If you can start the car by jumping the starter relay without jumping the neutral safty terminal on the starter relay, is implies that circuit is ok. I had a similar problem and it turned out to be a bad ignition switch. My switch was intermittant.8)
 
Well I switch the ignition switch and its still a no go...So back to the drawing board..
 
You can quickly ground the terminal of the relay that the brown wire is connected to. If it works then you have issues with your Neutral Safety Switch circuit. If not then you may have problems with the positive side of the coil on the relay. Jump that side to positive on the battery to see if it cranks. You can also check your relay coil with an ohmmeter.
 
cudajim said:
You can quickly ground the terminal of the relay that the brown wire is connected to. If it works then you have issues with your Neutral Safety Switch circuit. If not then you may have problems with the positive side of the coil on the relay. Jump that side to positive on the battery to see if it cranks. You can also check your relay coil with an ohmmeter.
Click to expand...

in addition,you can check the yellow wire at the relay.It should be hot in the CRANK position :read2:
 
cudajim said:
You can quickly ground the terminal of the relay that the brown wire is connected to. If it works then you have issues with your Neutral Safety Switch circuit. If not then you may have problems with the positive side of the coil on the relay. Jump that side to positive on the battery to see if it cranks. You can also check your relay coil with an ohmmeter.
Click to expand...

Bingo....I grounded the Brown Wire and was able to start the car with the ignition switch..
 
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