Hey folks --

So, after running just dandy, never having a problem with the starter, etc. I got into the car, turned the ignition and bupkis. No sound, no starter click, nothing. Power is there to the lights, dashlights, etc. Checked under the hood to see if a wire had come loose, but all seems tight and connected.

My first idea is that the ballast resistor is caput -- this happened to me many years ago (the Bush I administration...), and th symptom, as I dimly recall, was the same -- a big fat nada.

Any other ideas?

R

What happens to the lights when you hit the starter?

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

The usual -- slight dimming.

will it crank/start if u cross the solenoid with a screwdriver?

Haven't tried it...and don't know how to...(one of the sad cases of growing up in a completely non-mechanically minded nuclear family, although we COULD play logic games around the dinner table!).

What steps do I need to take to do this?

Ballast resistor has nothing to do with the starter. Is battery fully charged?
Check connection (s) at battery, starter, starter relay.
Make sure trans is in park or neutral

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

r u familiar with the starter assembly?

it's been a while since i've done it. let me get a fresh look at my starter so i don't give u bad info.

Battery fully charged, all connections tight. No noise from the starter at all when I turn the key.

Take a screw driver or any handy piece of metal and connect ("bridge") across the two wire posts coming off the starter motor. (do not touch the main starter case while doing this)

The starter should "energize" if the starter and battery are both OK.
If so, the problem is likely the starter relay.

You can start the engine if you turn the key (ignition) to the run position and then jump the starter from under the hood, as described above.
DD

.....in neutral...parking brake on....standing to one side

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Thanks, Doc!

The relay is the on the firewall, correct? Seems like an easy replace job.

R

Well, first, I jumped the starter terminals, and it jumped. So I went to Napa and bought a relay -- I got a two-blade terminal incorrectly. Plus a ballast resistor. And a new starter solenoid.

Replaced the resistor and relay. Tried the relay with the yellow wire on each pof the two terminals. Nothing.

Don't know where the solenoid lives to replace that (it's a '62 Lancer, with a 170) -- looked all over and couldn't find it.

So, what next? The ignition switch? The wiring? How do I check? Is it the wrong relay and that's the issue?

BONUS -- when I shut the door, the internal mechanism broke, and now I can't open the driver door execpt from the inside. Grrrrr.

Further -- followed all the wires to the starter and there IS no solenoid currently on the car. The starter must have been swapped at some point for one with a solenoid, unless I'm missing something...

The place where the wires attach to the starter IS the solenoid. It is all one unit with the starter.

Possible solution if you're an automatic transmission. Try starting from neutral instead of park? Perhaps in between a few gears. Move the shifter around till you hear a click for the neutral (or park) safety switch.

On my dart the shifter was slightly out of adjustment and wont always start in park.

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1968 Plymouth Barracuda [Daily Driver]
1972 Dodge Dart Swinger [Lent out as Daily Driver to a friend]
2010 Challenger R/T 6 Speed