I know this is posted 15 times a day, but my car won't start. It won't crank, it clicks, but won't crank. Battery is fine...starts my other stang. Connections are tight. The starter solenoid is also from my other stang and works fine. Checked resistance of the starter wire and it seems fine. Pulled the starter and had it checked..it's good. What could it be? I'm thinking clutch safety switch, but how do I test that? I also have jumped the two connections on the starter relay and it makes a noise over by the starter, but it doesn't crank. I've pulled the starter already and had it tested at autozone, it's fine. Maybe a bad connection at the starter? It did this before and after I pulled the starter and the connection is tight. I don't know what to do, this is driving me nuts. Any advice is appreciated. I know stuff happens, but if it's not one thing, it's another, seriously...i'm really sick of it. Help if you can.
GT won't start...I've tried nearly everything...please help!
- Thread starter TheUser
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If you jumped out the solenoid, then the clutch switch is not at fault. You bypassed it. The starter is still suspect, even though it tested good. How many ohms did you read through the starter wire? Were the mounting surfaces clean? That is where the starter gets its ground. Check the engine to chassis ground too.
Gravel
Member
The ohm check will do you no good. The wires need to be tested under load. Do a voltage drop check on all 3 cables (1 ground and 2 pos). If it passes the voltage drop check then I would suspect that the starter is failing under load.
I just replaced my starter with the updated style because of the same problem.
Voltage drop test
I just replaced my starter with the updated style because of the same problem.
Voltage drop test
i checked my book that came w/ my multimeter and it listed a bunch of voltage drop tests...the first one was neg. battery cable chassis ground to the end of the neg. cable and the dang starter solonoid started sparking for some reason...Checked the battery terminal to battery cable connection and it was like 150 mv or whatever, i really didn't see the points of these, but either way, started smelling smoke like something was maybe burning, so I stopped. If i would have known i'd be rebuilding it from the gound up, i'd have just bought a rolling chassis 
It's all good, not sure what to do now, but i'll figure something out I guess.
It's all good, not sure what to do now, but i'll figure something out I guess.
Thanks for the bump, none-the-less
Gravel
Member
An ohm test does nothing in the case of a loaded circuit because a single strand of wire will give little to no resistance but will not carry enough current to start your car.
The voltage drop test checks the wires load capability, if the wire has high resistance it will show the voltage that the wire drops from one end of the wire to the other end. The higher the reading, the more resistance in the wire.
Oh yeah, and what you are describing is classic starter load issues!! If you had the starter bench tested, it also does little good... If the starter cannot be tested under load you are only doing a half ass test...
When you replace your starter go with the updated style and do the conversion, it works sooo much better and also draws a ton less amps..
The voltage drop test checks the wires load capability, if the wire has high resistance it will show the voltage that the wire drops from one end of the wire to the other end. The higher the reading, the more resistance in the wire.
Oh yeah, and what you are describing is classic starter load issues!! If you had the starter bench tested, it also does little good... If the starter cannot be tested under load you are only doing a half ass test...
When you replace your starter go with the updated style and do the conversion, it works sooo much better and also draws a ton less amps..
yeah i thought it was the starter or I wouldn't have pulled it.
I read your above post about the voltage drop tests and started doing those (posted earlier) and when it started smelling like something was burning, I decided to quit...getting dark anyway. Yeah, I want a new mini high-torque starter, but they're $200...geez! There was one I glanced over in a post earlier for like $89, anyone used one of those, are they any good?
I read your above post about the voltage drop tests and started doing those (posted earlier) and when it started smelling like something was burning, I decided to quit...getting dark anyway. Yeah, I want a new mini high-torque starter, but they're $200...geez! There was one I glanced over in a post earlier for like $89, anyone used one of those, are they any good?
TheRedBlur
Active Member
even if the solenoid is good, the starter may still be bad, I work at sucks auto and I get that all the time, the starterwill pop out and turn, on the bench, but the windings inside may be corroded and don't have enough muscle to turn the crank, happens all the time, spend $50, get a new one problem solved
since this may be pertinent to The User, are starters from 93's more of a mini starter design? might be a compromise for those of us who cant afford better ones, but also like swapping out this junk every two weeks. LOL.
Gravel
Member
Yeah I think that they made the change to the "Planetary Gear Reduction" somewhere around 93-94 ish.... You do not need to go out and buy the expensive high torque starter, the late model is already about 90 fewer amps, 25% stronger and about 50% lighter.. It also converts to the solenoid style starter.. If it came factory with this starter, it would not have the traditional solenoid on the wheel well..
hey guys, thanks for the responses...I thought it was the starter from the start, like I said earlier. I ended up buying a high torque mini-starter from ebay for $65 + 16 shipping and then like $5 for a paypal satisfaction guarantee thing that basically lets me send it back if it doesn't work...the guy offers a model w/ a warrenty, but it's $15 higher, so I did the paypal thing. Either way, I should get the starter put on probably Friday. Thanks for all of the responses and I'll post an update when it *works* on Friday when I throw the new starter in 
BTW, does the clicking indicate the solenoid is good or what?
BTW, does the clicking indicate the solenoid is good or what?
alright, i've replaced the starter...blew solonoid on mini starter, replaced solonoid, blew it again, bought remanufactured starter at autozone, it won't crank w/ it either. Pulled the starter from my 90 LX 5.0 and threw it on the GT, still won't crank. I've swapped starter solonoids back and forth half a dozen times and I just swapped the starter cable, same thing. I have Lights, blinkers etc, the battery is good. The solonoid works on the LX, as does the battery cable and starter. What now? The weird thing is, I can connect the solonoid posts w/ a screwdriver and get a click from over by the starter (w/ all the starters), but it won't crank. I hate this!
Roll the motor over by hand then try to start it.Good Luck!i was going to mention this, but I didn't...I thought the same thing and actually turned the motor over w/ a a ratchet on the harmonic balancer bolt...turned fine it seemed. Is there a way I can leave the starter bolted and crank it...just ground it w/ a wire or something? I'll turn it over by hand again tomorrow...this is weird. It's not a high compression motor or anything, it's like 8.8-8.9 compression ratio. Is it possible i'm not fitting the starter in there right? I don't think so since it only bolts up one way.
donkey_punch
New Member
try this get one jumper cable and connect it to your negative battery post. then connect the other end to you motor. i connected it to my alternator bracket. then try to start the motor. if it starts you have a bad ground on your negative wire.
i spent 3 weeks changing parts and in the end it was just the negative battery wire had a bad ground and i just bought a new and bigger wire and grounded it some where else. runs like a champ now.
i was haveing some of the same problems that you were describing. wouldn't start but light would turn on and radio. but it wouldn't crank for anything.when some one on this board (sorry forgot who) posted this i thought he was off his rocker. but then after a day of thinking about it, i gave it a shot. and it worked. i could of had my car ruinning a day earlier and maybe 3 weeks earlier.
i spent 3 weeks changing parts and in the end it was just the negative battery wire had a bad ground and i just bought a new and bigger wire and grounded it some where else. runs like a champ now.
i was haveing some of the same problems that you were describing. wouldn't start but light would turn on and radio. but it wouldn't crank for anything.when some one on this board (sorry forgot who) posted this i thought he was off his rocker. but then after a day of thinking about it, i gave it a shot. and it worked. i could of had my car ruinning a day earlier and maybe 3 weeks earlier.
