TheUser said:
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.
ill start from the top, which may be redundant with what others have said.
pull the slide on thin red wire off the top of the solenoid. put a test light on the red wire (ground aligator lead on test light) and turn key to crank. if no light at crank:
the neutral safety switch/clutch safety switch is at fault or the ignition switch itself is bad, or the wire from the switch to the solenoid is open.
if it did light the test light, jump the lugs on the solenoid (as you have done). if it starts, bad solenoid.
if still no start: battery, cables and cable from the solenoid to the starter should be checked. also motor to frame grounds.
about your question above: do you mean crank the motor with the starter, but not start the car? if so, leave the key off, put it in neutral (stick) or park. then take the solenoid trigger off (the slide on wire on top of solenoid) and touch it to the battery terminal of the solenoid. the starter should turn over as long as you leave the connector touching. the car wont start since the key is off; no ignition.
if the car does not turn over this way, jump the solenoid lugs.still no go: try a jumper battery, jumper cables, etc (as listed above) to isolate the malfunction.
i may have left something out of this list, but i think i got the big points. it should be simple - 20 mins with a DMM should have you up and running.
good luck.