Problem Starting??!!??!!

[dc914guy]

Hello All~
Well I was up until 4:30am last night, but I can proudly say that the engine is in the car I connected all of the FI wires, double checked that all of my hoses were connected, poured about 2 gallons of fresh gas in the tank, went to turn the key and ............... NOTHING!!??!?!?!?

I get all of the lights on in the car, the battery is fully charged and the ground strap is connected, it just seems like there is no power to the starter. I triple checked all of my wiring and everything appears to be okay.

The one thing that could be the source of my problem, is the clutch and shift linkage are not hooked up, although the car is in Neutral and the clutch is depressed all the way to the floor. I am hopefully going to find shifter bushings and a new clutch cable in Hershey on Saturday I assumed any sensors would have been engaged with the clutch in that position.

Could the clutch be my problem, does anyone have any other ideas??

Thanks,
~Eric

[jtf914]

Originally posted by dc914guy
I assumed any sensors would have been engaged with the clutch in that position.

Could the clutch be my problem, does anyone have any other ideas??

Thanks,
~Eric

I don't think 914's have a clutch pedal sensor, I could be wrong though. I know the 1970 914's don't. Did you bench test the starter just to make sure it works.

edit: Congrats an getting it back together!!

-Justin

[mike95125]

There is no cut off clutch switch that I know of. Did you check the little wire that goes to your starter? Check it for 12v when you turn the key. If you dont get the 12v then you know that the problem lies between the starter wiring, and the battery. That pretty much leaves the ignition switch it self. The major show stoppers though are the ground strap, and the ig switch.
Good luck. Tell me if you have the 12v.

[dc914guy]

I did not bench test the starter, I was operating under the assumption that hey, it worked before right?

I will check the voltage and report back!

Thanks for the help,
~Eric

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The high-current path for the starter goes from the battery, to the starter solenoid, through the windings in the starter motor, to the starter case, to the tranny case, through the tranny ground strap, through the chassis, through the battery ground strap, and back to the battery.

The low-current path for the starter goes from the battery, through the main wiring harness to the ignition switch. From the switch, it goes through the main wiring harness (possibly through the Infamous Seatbelt Interlock Relay on 74-early 75 cars) to the relay board, through the board to the starter wiring harness, and connects to the starter solenoid. The ground path is the same as for the high-current path.

Check for +12V on the yellow wire when the key is turned; that will check the "supply" side of the low-current path. It sounds like you've checked the ground side. That would then leave the high-current supply side.

--DD

[jamcleod]

when i put mine together for the first time (a 74 2.0L) i forgot to put in the large long starter cable. i disassembled all the wiring when i dismantled the engine and on assembly, overlooked the cable. it's a battery gauge/wire cable about 3' long that goes thru the vertical engine sheet metal, along the back of the vertical piece, then to the starter terminal. mine didn't start until i installed that cable.