Electrical problem...(starter motor)

[Jhoe]

I'm trying to start my car or at least turn it over and the starter motor isn't turning at all. We used a test light to see if the solenoid was getting power when the clutch was pressed down, and it was. All the wires appear to have power and we tested a second starter out of the car which would not run either. I don't have any spark plug wires hooked up (new engine needs to crank over) at the time and the WDO (which is what?) relay is clicking as well, is that normal? We also checked the relay under the dash (1g - starter relay) with a relay out of a friends car which works and has the same resistance as the one in my car (v.meter). When we try to start the car with his relay we get the same result. The contacts appear to be good as well. PLEASE anyone with an idea, I'll give it a shot.
Thanks

 

[my_gst95]

You could take your starter to a local autozone/kragen to have it tested to make sure the coil is properly sending out power to the gear. If that checks out ok, there is an IGN fuse that you can inspect under the hood. Also make sure the starter is grounded with its ground wire to the tranny/engine. You may want to disconnect your clutch saftey switch near your clutch pedal just to take it out of the equation. Just MAKE SURE when you go to test your car it's not in gear!

my_gst95

 

[luv2rallye]

Also the battery cables and their connections must be clean, tight, and no internal breaks. Even 0.1 ohm resistance will prevent a starter from working properly yet 12 volts may appear on it. Try removing the cables, cleaning them and putting on tight. Also you could first try bypassing those cables with jumper cables right to the starter to see if you have a cable problem. If so get new cables - old cables sometimes get internal breaks in them that only show up when large current flows tem them.

 

[Jhoe]

A little update....

my_gst95: I believe the clutch safety switch is working properly because I used a test light with the clutch pressed and not pressed down, it appeared to be working. I am going to check that fuse like you said and also run it up to autozone.

luv2rallye: We tried using a battery earlier, but I didn't disconnect the cables from the battery so the jumper cables were not directly touching the battery, I'll try doing that as you suggested with 2 pairs of cables.

Thanks for the help guys, keep em coming, hopefully the 2.4 will be running today

 

[Jhoe]

Ok the ign fuse checked out ok, the starter kicks out, but doesn't spin, what does this mean? I am going to check the voltage on the solenoid when someone comes home, but with a meter it is just out of reach to view by myself....The starter was just replaced today, like I said, it kicks out but doesn't spin?

 

[Jhoe]

Figured it out, new starter turned out ok, and cleaned all the terminals off, the started kicked out AND spun this time around so should have her running tonight, thanks for all the help...