Need a little help
68 camaro, sb, manual, msd6al, mallory unilight.
Never had a problem in the past, was working on the RS vacuum hoses and ever since have had problems with teh car starting. When I try to crank it all I get is the click at the starter.
Have 12 volts at, horn relay, msd box, ign switch.
Ran a wire from the +Battery to the where the purple wire goes on the starter and the starter cranks, car does not turn over.
What do I try next?
Thxs
Doug

Do you hear the starter motor spin when you jump the wire as you did? if so sounds like the bendix is toast. Pull the starter and get it tested, if its bad replace it and the solenoid. Sounds like the solenoid is toast as well if you only hear a click.

Sometimes the brushes will get hung up and cause this. Tap it lightly with a wrench and see if it will crank. If so, I'd recommend replacing the starter, or getting a set of replacement brushes for it. Inpsect the armeture contacts for severe wear. You can shine up the ameture with emery cloth. There is a rear bushing available for those as well if you need one, but you kind of need a special punch to get the old one out.

Thanks for the quick reply. I really appreciate this site and the great advice everybody gives.

I did hear the starter motor spin, the car would crank over.

I'll pull it tonight and test it

Doug

Could someone explain how the ignition system works.

Ignition Key to starter, and + battery to starter, starter to MSD box, then MSD box to distrib, and distrib to COIL, car starts.
Where does the horn relay come in to play?

I want to make sure that I am tracing the circuit in the right order

Except for the (+) battery cable feed to the big stud on the starter, all the power for the whole car comes from the horn relay bus (two screw terminals); one red wire (the feed) is from the big terminal on the starter, and the other red wire goes to the alternator (to charge the battery) and through the bulkhead connector for power to everything on the inside of the car (including the ignition switch). If you disconnect either of the red wires at the horn relay bus, you'll have no power to anything (both screws are in the same piece of metal, doesn't matter which screw the red wires are under - it's the same contact point).

thedugan, you have mail

Wacked the starter a few times. Still hear the click when I turn the key.

I put the meter on the purple wire and I have 12 volts at the wire when I turn the key. So there is power going to the solenoid.

I have power at the horn relay. All lights work, (the horn would if I had it hooked up!!!), and all accessories work.

I pulled the starter to get it tested. I hope thats it but its a $150 powermaster mini starter so I won't be that happy if that's it.

Thanks

Doug
68 RS/SS Conv.

Is there anything that I am missed testing or should recheck (grounds??) before I replace the starter?

Can I rule out the horn relay is the problem.
Can I rule out that the dist, msd box, and coil is the problem too. If I have no spark then I would test these three right?

if the starter doesn't crank the engine when you hot wire it, there is something wrong with the starter.

If the engine cranks but does not fire, there is something wrong with the ignition.

So when I hotwired it from the battery right to the starter the starter cranked the engine. So that would tell me the starter is good, or its not getting enough power because of a short somewhere.

If the starter cranked the engine when you bypassed the ignition system then:
1 check that you have the correct wire going to the S terminal on the starter.
2 make sure that the wire is good and has no breaks in it.
3 if 1 & 2 check ok, put a test light to it and turn the key to start position and check that you have voltage going through the wire. If not:
4 trace all wire back to the ignition switch through the neutral safety switch, verifying that the wire and NSS are good. if all is good:
5 put a test light on the ignition switch S terminal and turn the key, if no power then you've got a faulty switch. If you have power, sell the car it's posessed and cant appreciate your finer qualities!

I'll get it figured out this weekend.
Haven't had time to take a look at it.
Put the cover on the car for a few days to get some work done in the garage.
Installed an airline system throughout the garage using PVC pipe. It's great, I now have airline hook ups all over and no damn hose to trip over or drag all over the place. All for $50 bucks, you can't beat it.
Later
Doug

Waiting for the solenoid parts to come in to rebuild the starter. Hope to have it running by the weekend. Hopefully this fixes it.
Nanotech thanks for the email. That is basically how my ignition system is setup.
Also. I ran a wire from the starter directly to the where the yellow wire would hookup to the ignition switch. Turned the key and same think click click ((no boom) for you saliva fans)). From what I was told if you do that and you bypass the harness then its the starter solenoid thats the problem. We shall see...
Doug

Not to jump in with last minute ideas but this could be the result of a bad regulator. Cheaper to check than a starter rebuild or replacement at this point.

I don't use the regulator. It's bypased because I use a one wire alternator.

New Solenoid fixed it. Starts up and is running great. Thanks for the help.
Doug

Thanks for posting the solution. Good work.