I just got a 92 3.1L V6 Camaro RS last year when the engine went bad on me. I got another engine and have been doing the swap myself. Everything has been fine up until I hooked up the battery. The bolt that the lug attaches to on the alternator was loose and caused the insulation on the wire to burn up when I turned the key. I replaced the alternator and replaced the hot-wire to the battery (the alternator was bad). I charged the battery and turned the key and I heard the starter engage but the engine would not turn over. The battery then had a low charge and the starter would not make a sound although my dash and interior lights were on and my stereo worked. I got the battery checked and it was good and I charged it and then hooked it back up and when I turned the key the starter wouldn't even engage. I don't know what to do from here. Any help?????

 

Does the engine turn over w/ a breaker bar?
Remove the starter & have it tested.

 

The engine does turn over, and I do know the starter is good because it's the same one I used previously when the connecting rod in my old engine went bad.

 

Make sure the starter is grounded good, the big wire should have 12v all the time, small wire(s) should have 12v only when cranking.
Do you think you need to shim the starter?

 

My main concern is that the starter was engaging before and now all of the sudden it's not when I hooked the battery back up, although I will try shimming to see if that does the trick

 

VATs issue?


RBob.

 

I do have a spare nose from an old starter that also got eaten by this thing almost 2 years ago but the holes haven't been opened up to the new bolts yet. A couple weeks ago, i had made some adjustments down there and the starter was at it's usual tricks. The pinion was jammed. I had to pull up on the tail of the starter to get it to release. So i put another shim in, right? No go there either.
What i was thinking of doing was cutting an inspection hole of sorts into the bell as well as trying your suggestion of using the spare nose. That way i could physically measure and see what is going on down there. The hole wouldn't be more than maybe an inch or so square.

 

Now how in the bleep did my post in my thread end up here? Stupid phone... I suppose that's what I get for posting at work on downtime .

Anyways, OP, you should make sure you have power on the purple (possibly green?) wire at the starter (small lug) when the key is turned to CRANK. If not, check to see if the SECURITY light is on. If it is, you won't be able to do anything until you fix the VATS issue. If the light doesn't come on at all, you will need to find the VATS module under the dash and make sure you have power at the pink wire. Also locate the starter enable relay under the dash, which will have the fat yellow and fat green wires in it. Jump those wires together and try to engage the starter again. If the starter turns then, you have an issue with the VATS starter enable circuit.

Also, if the SECURITY light is on, you could crank the engine all day but until you can get the light to go out, there won't be any fuel injection.