so my moms car decided to not start the other night. i was at work n left to go look at it n it started right up. got it home shut it off and it wouldn't start again. this morning i just started it moved it turned it off. started it, shut it off, like 5 times then it wouldn't start again. i put power straight to the starter n it spun but didn't sound like it was engaged. had my dad hold the key in start while i did that n it still didn't engage. i don't think the starters bad but possibly the starter solenoid which i think tells the starter to engage? it doesn't crank at all with the key. any ideas? i cleaned up the ground from the transmission to the body under headlight mount n it made no differance.

 

how did you put power straight to the starter? if you jumped the two large posts, you're not engaging the solenoid. the solenoid moves the pinion gear into the flywheel ring gear. if you want to test the solenoid, you need to power the third post. in earlier starters, this is just an exposed smaller post. in later ones, this is a plug. i stuck something into the plug (i used a screwdriver), then jumped that to the charged post. Both the charged post and the solenoid/ignition post need power for the starter to totally function. if you only charge the solenoid, then the solenoid will move the pinion (you'll hear a click), but the motor will not move. likewise, if you only jump the large posts, only the starter motor will spin but it will not engage the flywheel. likely the easiest way would be to just take the starter out. takes 5 minutes.

 

i jumped the pin for electrical plug to the large post and car cranked so ik the starter n solenoid work. im gonna cut the connector n put it right to the pin to see if its just the connectors bad. thanks for ur help haha any suggestions as to what it could b if its not the connector?

 

could be ignition switch or a bad wire/connection somewhere.

 

Could I wire up a momentary push button to the started plug and the post to get the car to crank? Ik it will crank but would it run if I started it like that? It has 186k miles so I'm not trying to spend a Lotta money on it

 

maybe. unless you disable VATS you'd still need the key chip to be present near the sensor. you'd hack up the wires quite a bit though (although you'd prob do a better job than 90% of car alarm installs that are done).