92 Laser wont start

[instasmith]

I am posting this for a friend...
I have his car sitting in the garage right now. When you turn the key it just clicks nothing else. His lights dont dim when you turn the key or anything. He said it was working fine when he had it out the other day. This is a completely stock Plymoth laser RS Automatic Turbo

Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[megadeth0]

It sounds like the solonoid on the starter. With key on, have a friend push in the clutch and you take a screwdriver and jump the two posts on the starter. It should crank. This will tell you if it is the solonoid for sure, but that clicking is usually a good sign of it.

 

[91gsxdsm]

He said it was an auto. But it does sound like a starter problem. Take it to your local part store and have it checked for free. If it turns out to be ok, It may be in the ignition switch.

 

[instasmith]

thanks guys. I thought it was the solonoid but I was not positive.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Or, you can take a test light and see if the little post is getting voltage during cranking.

 

[instasmith]

Ok, So we just got around to replacing the solinoid and the car still wont turn over. You can here the solinoid but nothing happens. I don't understand how a starter just goes bad. I would assume that it would develop dead spots. But it didnt; it just stop turning over. Could this be something other than the starter? Could there be some type of fuse or Electrical problem?

Any help would be great! Thanks

 

[92eclipse_gs]

So you said he is getting electrical, headlights, interior lights, ect. ?

 

[instasmith]

yes we have power the lights come on and everything, the starter and the solinoid are both good. I think this is an electrical problem. We have looked at the fuse under the dash.

 

[92eclipse_gs]

you could try your igntion switch. you will need a test light and a wire diagram.see if you have power going to the switch and from the switch.

i know electrical problems are a mess to work with haha. ive had my share.

just make sure all your connections look good and clean also.

hopefully this helps you a little bit!

 

[instasmith]

I thought of that but why do we hear clicking from under the hood?
Thanks for the help!!

 

[92eclipse_gs]

have you checked all the fusible links under the hood?

my car did that clicking noise when it wouldnt start, but i found the cause of that to be a bad starter.

 

[instasmith]

I checked the starter (buy connecting it to a battery) and it worked. Then we hooked it back up to the car and turn the key and it would not work. I am getting frustrated trying to fix this. I checked all the fuses but none of them are bad. Are there any switches that might have the starter hung up.
We also checked the voltage going to the starter and solinoid. Both have 12V and when you try to crank the car the little wire drops to zero.

thanks
scott

 

[92eclipse_gs]

Alright try this. so you have 2 posts on your starter. The big one is for the battery cable. Check with a test light that its hot all the time. The little one is to engage the solenoid for the starter. It should be hot when you are in a cranking the key.

Your clutch switch can be out of adjustment, or bad, or it could be the ignition switch.

But from there im out of ideas. I hope i helped you.

-Nick