Frustrating no crank problem

12lepler

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Ugh. OK so i had parked the car about 2 weeks ago to take care of a bunch of stuff that was wrong on my 86 GN. I machined, painted, and installed my headers, heat wrapped and cleaned up my exhaust, adjusted my shift cable so that it actually will be in OD when the trans is in OD, and I cleaned up some HORRIBLE under dash wiring. The last thing to do was replace my terrible leaky pan gasket with a highly recommended cork one. So at 1 AM yesterday I finished installing the oil pan, I filled it with oil, double, triple, then quadruple checked everything. I unplugged my fuel pump so I can just crank the engine without it starting to build up oil pressure. I did this because I redid my leaky oil pressure gauge and I wanted to check for leaks. I turn the key, and NOTHING happens. NOTHING. No relay click, nothing, it's not even trying. The battery voltage is good, I DID remember to attach the big ground cable to the engine, and all the starter wires are hooked up. When I did all the wiring I disconnected the battery so I know I didn't fry anything. Since I adjusted the shift cable could the neutral saftey switch be causing the problem? The car also has the factory alarm system and the SECURITY light doesn't illuminate ever. Should it blink or something when I crank it? The wiring under the dash was horrible. Splices were everywhere. The car at one point in its life also had an aftermarket alarm on it because it had a red LED in the dash. The guy I bought it from said that the aftermarket one was taken out and I think he was being honest. the LED wires went to nothing and I saw no evidence that the security system was there anymore so I don't think that was the problem. I'm just tired of not driving my car so can someone give me a place to start checking?

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Ok so here are some pictures. The first is of the horrible wiring. The next is of the wires I pulled out of the car. Most of those wires were to a stupid quarter mile timer that someone had put in the car. The next picture is of some thin green wire that is spliced into my coil pack wiring. All that wire did was connect to ground if I can remember. In fact the next one is a picture of the wire where it used to be grounded. This car doesn't have a tach, and it has a single wire alternator, do you think that that wire gives a tach signal and was at one time used for a tach? I know "just get a tach feed from the green plug on the alternator" but this alternator doesn't have a green plug and there are wires laying next to it unused. They were like that before so they aren't the problem. Sorry for writing a novel here but I'm just trying to give as much info as possible.

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Did it crank before you messed with any of the wiring?
Does the interior lights when you open the door come on?
 
Try turning the collar on the column all the way clockwise (as if you had column shit and were putting it in park).
 
Did it crank before you messed with any of the wiring?
Does the interior lights when you open the door come on?

Yes to both of those questions. Where are the fuses and relays for the starter so I can test them. I wanna start with the basics and move up

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Try turning the collar on the column all the way clockwise (as if you had column **shit** and were putting it in park).

that's a good idea. I'll check that ASAP. And that's a pretty funny typo you put in there haha :D

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Here's the fuse panel layout diagram on our cars.


fusebox-jpg.131104


Here's another diagram that might be of some help also.
enginecomp.jpg
 
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So is there a starter relay other than the solenoid on the starter? And what does CCCI mean on the fuse box?

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Easiest way to explain what the CCCI fuse is part of. Igniton control module & coil pack won't get power to them if that fuse is missing or blown.
ccc1.gif
 
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Do not forget the fuseable links attached to the +batt. post on the solenoid. They fatigue over time and then clear unexpectedly. I relocated mine to the fire wall where I can more readily replace if necessary w/o having to jack up the car and get to the starter. I believe casper's offers a relocating kit.
 
Well after looking at the wiring mess you pulled out I think you have removed either inline fuse A or inline fuse B that feed the factory theft deterrent system. This would leave you with no power on terminal C of the starter interrupt relay in the first diagram below. Either way, at this point I would begin to work backwards and see if you have voltage on the purple wire going to the starter solenoid when you turn the ignition switch to start. Try these diagrams to solve your cranking issue.

upload_2014-8-10_9-6-49.png

upload_2014-8-10_9-8-22.png

upload_2014-8-10_9-9-40.png
 
I got dizzy going through this thread with all the wiring diagrams when you are chasing a basic "no crank" issue? :confused:

If the starter has battery voltage the first thing to do is jumper from the battery terminal on the starter solenoid to the terminal with the small purple wire also on the starter. This will verify if the starter is able to function or not, and work back from there.

This is not easy to do when the car is on the ground, but if it does turn over when jumped, the purple wire from the ignition switch has a open, or has been cut? This is very common as most aftermarket security systems interrupt this wire.

You can also find the purple wire in the harness under the coil pack going down to the starter. We often tap into this purple wire on cars with solid lifters to make it easy to hook up a remote starter switch to turn the engine when adjusting valves.
 
Well after looking at the wiring mess you pulled out I think you have removed either inline fuse A or inline fuse B that feed the factory theft deterrent system. This would leave you with no power on terminal C of the starter interrupt relay in the first diagram below. Either way, at this point I would begin to work backwards and see if you have voltage on the purple wire going to the starter solenoid when you turn the ignition switch to start. Try these diagrams to solve your cranking issue.

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I tested my alarm system last night. I used the power locks to lock the car, then I opened the door and the alarm went off. If these inline fuses were removed wouldn't the alarm system not work? (I haven't looked at the wiring diagram closely yet)

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It's possible that the inline fuses you had in the pile came from the other system as well. As mentioned above, the fastest way to sort out no crank is to start at the purple wire at the starter and jump it to verify the car will crank. If it does, use the diagrams to work back methodically until you find the reason why.
 
THANK THE LAWD!! :D I found the problem! It was the small purple wire that powers up the solenoid. My wiring had been messed with so my wire goes from purple to red, but nevertheless it was broken where it attaches to the starter. This just goes to show that you should always check the basics first before going crazy with diagnostics. It was like 12 am for me when I made this thread so I didn't really look into the problem i just needed to know what to look for. But hopefully this thread can help someone else out someday. Thanks for all the advice everyone ;)

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THANK THE LAWD!! :D I found the problem! It was the small purple wire that powers up the solenoid. My wiring had been messed with so my wire goes from purple to red, but nevertheless it was broken where it attaches to the starter. This just goes to show that you should always check the basics first before going crazy with diagnostics. It was like 12 am for me when I made this thread so I didn't really look into the problem i just needed to know what to look for. But hopefully this thread can help someone else out someday. Thanks for all the advice everyone ;)

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Hey I am having the same no crank no start problem can you help me
 
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