Starter solenoid
 

How do you check the starter or starter solenoid while the starter is on the truck? I rewired the whole truck with painless kit. Now, it doesn't start, no click or anything. I have juice behind the dash and lights come on but no start. I have gone through the whole system few times and it seems everything is connected correctly. Before rewiring the starter was fine.
Thanks and have a happy thanks giving.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

i could only assume you have the starter wire to the battery and the negative side of the soleniod grounded.

Put Your Truck in neutral! way to see if it is working would be to take lets say maybe a deep well socket and apply it to both yout large solenoid stud to the small stud on the right side. that essentially "tricks it" and your engine should start cranking. Expect Sparks

a safer way to do this would be hooking a wire to the posotive side"right" and take the other bare wire side and tap the posotive battery terminal.

if it turns over you need to follow that wire till you find your O/L or short.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

I have not grounded anythinng on the starter. I thought starter get grounded when mounted to engine. Help me out here: Solenoid has 3 posts, "S", "R (or I)" and the main one which connects to battery. There is nothing connected to "I" terminal per painless instruction.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

First, the purple wire should be on the "S" terminal on the starter.

Check the purple wire at the solenoid with a test light. The light should illuminate when you turn the key to start. This is the signal wire to the starter through the switch.

If no power to the purple wire in start position, go back through the system.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

a quick little test that works once in a while when the solenoid is failing:

Tap the solenoid with a broom handle before (or even better... WHILE) turning your key and trying to get it to crank.

this would be an indicator of solenoid issues more than wiring issues though.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Get a test light and do what TX firefighter said first.
See if you have power through the purple wire to the solenoid.

If there is power make sure it is connected to the S side of th solenoid (closest to the block on the Chev).

If no power to the solenoid through the purple wire, back track to the neutral safety switch and see if you have power there when it is in neutral or park. If it is a stick do you have a switch on the clutch pedal that requires the clutch to be pushed in. Also if it is a stick did you connect the wires that would have gone to and from the neutral safety switch together to make a circuit?
Most of the aftermarket harness manufactures assume that the rig will have an automatic trans unless it is a custom ordered harness.

We are all assuming that you have good battery connections at the battery, starter solenoid and ground to the block.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Humm. I don't have any neutral safety switch on the cluch or at least there was none on the old harness because I took the old harness carefully and labeled everything so I left the wires from the new harness unconnected. So would you explain it again,where am I suppose to connect the neutral safety wire?

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Nevertheless, you should have power to the purple wire when the key is in crank position. Test it at the starter first, and the back of the ignition switch second.

If you have power and the switch but not the starter, you need to trace the wire between the two.

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Ok, this is what I found (thanks to all the help)and what is confusing me:
1- There is a purple wire (#919) which goes to solenoid S terminal from fuse box. This wire doesn't have any juice at this point when I trun the ignition on. Also at the fuse box, inside engine bay, doesn't have any juice.
2- There is another purple wire with the same number (#919) inside the cab connected to ignition switch which is written on it "neutral safety". This wire has a pig tail and I have not connected to anywhere because my old harness was not connected to anyhwere and my truck was starting well. The other thing is there is nowhere on the fuse box that seems this wire can be connected to beside the fact that it is too short to reach to fuse box
3- On steering colum, under the dash I found a two prong connector (almost 45 degree angle to eachother) which I don't know what it is since there was nothing connected to it. Is that neutral safety switch? If yes, it has two prong and the purple wire has one!
Sorry about the long story. Should I just bypass the fuse box and connect the wire #919 togther? I hate to cut the brand new harness.
Thanks again for all the help

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Yes that plug is your Neutral safety.
I with you, you shouldn't have to cut your new harness.
s/t

Re: Starter solenoid
 

So, I connect the purple wire into one of the neytral safety switch (which one?). What does get connected to the other prong? does it get grounded?

Re: Starter solenoid
 

A picture is worth a thousand words! But you should have one going in & one going out to complete the circuit.
s/t
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/ch...ng_diagram.pdf
http://www.boomspeed.com/bofh1968/ch...g_diagram2.pdf

Re: Starter solenoid
 

Ok, I just talked to tech support at painlessperformance.com. The tech told me that I should not have the neutral safety switch therefore I should cut the wire from inside the engine bay and bring into the cab and connected to the ignition directly. Now, my question is: why the neutal saftey switch on the steering colum? Are these colum just generic for auto or for the one that have ignition switch on the colum (mine is on the dash)? If I want to connected to neutral saftery switch, do I have to go through fuse block or just coneect the either end of the wires (one from ignition and one from the starter) to the switch?