No start, starter or solenoid?

[evans68cuda]

So working on my 68 barracuda project and eventhough it is far from driving, I went to see if it'd atleast crank so that I don't get to the point where I'm ready to fire her up and then she won't. Sooo I connected all of th electrical and went to see what was working. Well the headlights, parking lights, tail lights and brake lights all work, blower motor works and wipers work! Bad news Is that the gauge lights don't turn on so I wanted some input on what you guys think that is but mainly about the no start. So after I see all of the other electrical works, I go to see if it'll atleast crank just for peace of mind before I keep going and no start!!! I them jumped the battery terminal to starter solenoid and got a firework show but no crank or sound at all from starter. So first I am thinking I need a starter but then maybe I wired the relay wrong? Here's some pics. I've got a big red wire directly from the battery to the big post on the relay, and another red wire from th harness that goes on the same terminal of the relay. I then have a yellow wire on the bottom left of the male terminals on the relay that also is feed into the wiring harnes. And then this may be where somthing is wrong, I've got a red wire from the "box" terminal to a small post on the starter. But the thing is, there is a big stud on the starter above the small one. The big stud is connected by the wring harness which is feed in right next to the z bar linkage. Any suggestions?!

 

[RedFish]

Factory service manuals and wiring diagrams are free downloads. How the starter to battery is wired will be the same in any of them. I'll offer what you wont find in a manual...
A relay has a electromagnetic coil inside that when engerized, moves the contacts, opens/closes the relay. So typical relay will have 2 smaller terminals that activate the coil and 2 large terminals for the controlled current.
A OEM relay for a automatic transmission car will have both small contact posts. One gets a yellow wire that is hot when the ign' switch goes to start, other gets a brown wire that provides a ground when that trans is in park or neutral.
A OEM relay for a manual trans car, ( no neutral safety switch or brown wire ) had no terminal for a brown wire. That relay coil was grounded internally.
All too common for a part vendor to have the automatic trans type relay in stock but not the manual trans type. The simple solution.... The installer would use a short piece of wire with a female spade on one end and ring terminal on the other. Attach from the relay coil ground post to chassis ground ( underneath one of the screws that attach the relay to the inner fender. Scratch away a bit of paint if necessary ). This might not get it started but should get that relay to click/close atleast.

 

[evans68cuda]

Factory service manuals and wiring diagrams are free downloads. How the starter to battery is wired will be the same in any of them. I'll offer what you wont find in a manual...
A relay has a electromagnetic coil inside that when engerized, moves the contacts, opens/closes the relay. So typical relay will have 2 smaller terminals that activate the coil and 2 large terminals for the controlled current.
A OEM relay for a automatic transmission car will have both small contact posts. One gets a yellow wire that is hot when the ign' switch goes to start, other gets a brown wire that provides a ground when that trans is in park or neutral.
A OEM relay for a manual trans car, ( no neutral safety switch or brown wire ) had no terminal for a brown wire. That relay coil was grounded internally.
All too common for a part vendor to have the automatic trans type relay in stock but not the manual trans type. The simple solution.... The installer would use a short piece of wire with a female spade on one end and ring terminal on the other. Attach from the relay coil ground post to chassis ground ( underneath one of the screws that attach the relay to the inner fender. Scratch away a bit of paint if necessary ). This might not get it started but should get that relay to click/close atleast.

Cool thanks! Well hopefully I can get a relay for a manual trans at the parts store. I'll check today but if not hopefully this will work!

 

[RedFish]

Cool thanks! Well hopefully I can get a relay for a manual trans at the parts store. I'll check today but if not hopefully this will work!

These days we a more likely to find a small piece of paper in the box that says, "for manual trans application a wire goes from here to here". Some might even include the little wire. Good luck though.