[Walt Fricke]

Fred

Hope you got it sorted out yesterday. But if not:

Looks like you are narrowing down to a solenoid issue. If you trace the voltage all the way to the starter's solenoid connector, chances are good that all the connections along the way are OK. Not 100%, as they might not pass enough current for the solenoid to work. But a first start. So, if the connection at the solenoid shows 12V with the starter switch in the start position, but not when it is not, time for the in-car solenoid test.

Which is to jumper from the big battery cable attached there - a pretty reliable source of amperage - to the solenoid connection on the starter. Which is where the smaller wire, all by itself, attaches. It is the one you traced back from the switch to the 14 pin connector, which is what gets it to the engine and then on to the starter. At the starter it is apt to be bundled with a larger red wire (the alternator wire), which attaches to the big battery cable connector but heads in the opposite direction.

If jumpering (carefully, but you don't need the ignition key on, and are better off without it being on) doesn't cause the starter to turn the engine, and if the transmission ground is working at all well, it is time to pull the starter. This is basically what you'd do with the starter out of the car - use jumper cables or something similarly stout, hook up the starter to a battery, and jumper over to the solenoid. A shop could do something fancier (checking resistance, current draw, stuff like that), but this is a pretty decent go/no go test.

If the starter doesn't do anything, your next move is clearer.

Removal of the starter is not a lot of fun, but - like the ignition switch - it's more awkward than anything else. Dirtier, too. You don't need to remove the half-shaft. I bet the archives are full of discussion about how to pull a starter, so you might want to search. I bet someone took pictures and did a step by step with wrench sizes and all. Lots of us have had to do that job.

The big wires are held on with a 13mm nut, so that comes off (surely you didn't need Dr. Gunter's admonition about unhooking the cable at the battery for this). Then you have two nuts on 10mm studs. The lower one stares you in the face. That stud attaches to the transmission case. The tricky one is on top, and also serves to hold engine to tranny (not to worry, there are 4 such attachments, and three do a fine job by themselves when you aren't driving it). The factory setup uses a barrel nut up top, so you need a metric hex bit for your socket wrench set. (Me, I use a regular 15mm wrench nut). If you lie under the engine, head to the front and nose about at the tranny drain plug, you can reach your right hand up over the tranny and reach this nut. You can also manipulate your socket wrench (with extension) with your left. The right hand can guide the hex into the nut. Think of it as hugging your transmission.

Easier on the back than pretzeling under the dashboard.

I've never futzed with the solenoid itself. My 1977 starter continues to run fine, and on the track car I use one of the light weight geared starters. With the starter out you could bypass the solenoid to see if it is a starter issue only.

In fact (looking at a manual), you could do this with the starter in the car. The solenoid has two studs sticking out of it's front end. One has the big wires from the car on it. The other has a wire that goes directly to the starter. If you short (jumper) these two terminals (with battery connected), the starter should whirrrrrr . It may not turn the engine, because part of what the solenoid does (I think) is to push the starter pinion gear out so it engages the flywheel ring gear. And it has to do this before the starter starts to turn, so you don't have a moving little gear trying to engage a stopped gear. But no matter - if you get the whirrrr, the starter itself may be OK, but the solenoid isn't working.

However, I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to remove only the solenoid with the starter in the car, so this is kind of academic.

Walt Fricke