well i finally got around to putting the new starter in, but my car still wont start. I bought a new starter for nothing now, but oh well at least its new. I turned the key, it attempted to turn over then i stopped it. Tried again and now nothing, not even a click. So im lost as to what the problem is. I checked my battery, charged it, put it back in and still nothing and the ametre guage is only showing the needle at the 8 mark instead of where it should be in the middle. Could it be my ignition switch is bad or some other problem?

It COULD be your battery... since its only seeing 8 volts. Ever think that your battery has gone bad?

i think the 8 volts might be a clue

Have the battery tested and possibly charged. Dont know whats up there in Canada, but i know around here, Autozone does that stuff for free.

While your snooping around your engine bay, you may want to take a look at the engine grounds. Make sure everything is secure, not corroded, etc. The ground strap from the cylinder head tot he firewall was a big issue for me last year. But i think your battery has lost its charge.

i had the battery tested, plus i put it in my dads gmc sierra and it started fine and the voltmetre was in the middle where it should be, so i dont really think its teh battery


i think i hooked up my starter right, i hooked the 2 wires that merge into one onto the batter termianl on the solenoid, and the single wire going to the smaller terminal "s" on the solenoid, although i had to cut th old ring connecter off and crimp a new one on so i could connect the merged wire to the solenoid.


Where is the ground wire on the head, which side?

Passenger side head, in the back. Reach back there, feel for a big strap that leads to the firewall. I dont know how much of an effect one of these has on starting, more or less its really good at draining a battery.

i saw a strap that had holes in it, maybe thats it, anyhow whatever it is its not hooked up to the firewall

If its woven metal, about 6-8" long or so and about 3/8"-1/2" wide and flat, i suggest grounding that to the firewall.

ok i checked it and its fine so im still lost

if so put the leads on the battery and turn the key, if you aren't drawing any voltage it could easily be the key switch. you said you checked your ground cable, is the connection clean and making good contact? just a couple of ideas to try

if you don't have a mulitmeter just some kind of volt meter will do

ok im doubting my hook up. How many wires go onto the smaller termianl on the solenoid, i have one wire there and the other one, the 2 that merge into one, hooked up to the larger terminal , the same one the battery hooks up to, is this correct? are there any diagrams that show the actual hook up?

There is only one wire that goes to the small terminal post on the solenoid and about 2 - 3 small ones that go to the big post along with the battery cable. Do you have that tang on the starter connected to the bottom section of the solenoid.

I'm not sure how many wires there are however the minimum that you need is a wire from the key that goes to the S terminal, a ground on the other side of that, then for the big posts you need a big wire that goes from the battery directly to the B terminal (which should be the longer of the two big ones) and then some kind of ground.
those are just the basic wires you need and I'm more familiar with hooking up starters to diesels than automotive but it is basically the same. good luck

theres a ground wire? I did hook the small one to the s terminal and the other 2 to the b terminal.....the other small terminal is not used on HEI equiped cars correct?

did u have your old starter tested. try that too.

well ladies and gents, it wasnt my starter lol, the previous owner had installed an alamrm system, apparently it was wired to ignition/starter, it must have broke or a loose connection, anyhow i tore it out, rehooked the ignition the way its supposed to , and voila, my car starts, no problems, for some reason its running better too!!!