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Thread: Ignition / Starter Gremlin!

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Forcedfed View Post
    The small plug to the alternator has been unplugged for a while.. Are you saying that the big plug that acts as a jumper doesn't need to be there at all on a 1 wire setup?
    If the alternator harness is unplugged now, the jumper isn't doing anything for the alternator at all. However, it could possibly make a difference on your starter problem. Try removing the jumper to see if there is any improvement.

    Ray
    Last edited by raycow; 11-22-2012 at 10:16 PM.

  2. #12
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    UPDATE: Ugh.. I fixed the PCV problem (thanks again) and went through each suggestion you all had about tracing this thing... Nothing worked. I even combined all of the suggestions at the same time ..disabled the ignition relay, unhooked all of those aftermarket bypass plugs on the 1 wire ALT conversion, and disconnected the yellow wire on the starter. As long as the key is turned and the starter spins, it happens... so before I gave up I had to at least find a way to shut the car off. I learned that when the car is running and I go to turn it off that I need to jump all the way to the other extreme (acc) and the motor will shut off without the starter trying to engage. From the ACC spot, I put on my princess gloves and very slowly (like a ninja) click it into the OFF position so I can get the key out. It's so sensitive that if the car is off with the key still in the ignition, I can touch the key and it will try and start. This tells me it has to be something to do with that ignition switch!.. but it's the 3rd one and they all do the same thing??! It's gotta be the switch! It's just begging me to put a push button RFID kit on it.. Thats what the gods are trying to say.

    ..Before publishing this I figured I'd go take a couple of videos so you all can see what its doing and also a vid of a walk around of the project so you can see what WE are building..ha!.. At the end of the demo video, I tried my technique of getting the key out without the starter spinning.. yeah.. No bueno.. this time I had to turn the key to ACC to get the engine shut off, pop the hood and unplug the yellow and purple starter wire plug so I could turn the key back to OFF and get the key out. Just to check (with the keys in my pocket) I plugged in the starter plug and it started spinning.


  3. #13
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    Here's the walk around..


    It's a free tour.. no worries.


  4. #14
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    Forcedfed, I am working on a longer post, and eventually I hope to be able to talk with you by phone about this problem because the troubleshooting process might involve more typing than I care to take on.

    For the time being though, please run another test because my curiosity is killing me about this one particular point. Disconnect the purple wires from the neutral safety switch and tell me what happens. If there are more wires on the same connector, that's ok too. The other wires are for the reverse lights and will probably be green. Those won't make any difference for the first part of the test, so just unplug the whole thing.

    Ray

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by raycow View Post
    Forcedfed, I am working on a longer post, and eventually I hope to be able to talk with you by phone about this problem because the troubleshooting process might involve more typing than I care to take on.

    For the time being though, please run another test because my curiosity is killing me about this one particular point. Disconnect the purple wires from the neutral safety switch and tell me what happens. If there are more wires on the same connector, that's ok too. The other wires are for the reverse lights and will probably be green. Those won't make any difference for the first part of the test, so just unplug the whole thing.

    Ray
    OK.. I unplugged the Purple and Green plugs off of the NSS and plugged the starter connector back in. With the NSS unplugged, the starter doesn't do anything when I turn the key and/or try and start the car.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Forcedfed View Post
    OK.. I unplugged the Purple and Green plugs off of the NSS and plugged the starter connector back in. With the NSS unplugged, the starter doesn't do anything when I turn the key and/or try and start the car.
    This is good news because it means that your starter circuit is still wired through the NSS, or else it would have made no difference when you unplugged the purple wires. I was beginning to think that a previous owner might have played with the wiring.

    Next, are you saying that the purple and green wires have separate connectors on the NSS? If yes, please reconnect only the purple wires and try starting the car again. Also, please note if it makes any difference what gear the shift lever is in when you try the starter.

    Lastly, where is the "starter connector" located that you mentioned above?

    Ray

  7. #17
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    The NSS seems to be doing its job... When I have it in park and plug the connector with the purple wires on it, it immediately tries to start. While its trying to start, I put the car in gear and it shuts it down like it's supposed to. The starter connector I'm talking about is just a 2 wire male/female factory plug sitting on the driver's side inner fender well next to the power distribution block.. It has to be something simple like the ignition switch again.. It almost acts like the internal guts of the switch are clocked about a millimeter off.. but how that's possible with 3 different switches I don't know.

    Is it possible for the starter itself to be causing it? It was new when I put it in, but since this has started happening I replaced the solenoid because that's the only place I thought could be causing the problem, but didn't replace the entire body.

    [IMG][/IMG]

    [IMG][/IMG]

  8. #18
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    No, I don't think the starter is causing the problem. It has to be in the external circuit if the NSS is effective at stopping it.

    Now I am still not clear on this one point, since it looks like the green wires are connected to the NSS in your picture. Did you try the test with the green wires NOT connected?

    Ray

  9. #19
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    I plugged them in for the picture but they were unplugged for the test.. With them unplugged I touched the purple plug to its connection spot and the starter turned..

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Forcedfed View Post
    I plugged them in for the picture but they were unplugged for the test.. With them unplugged I touched the purple plug to its connection spot and the starter turned..
    Ok, that shoots down my last theory for the time being (a defect in the NSS - one of the green wires has ignition power on it and the switch could have been internally shorting that to one of the purple wires).

    It is looking more and more as if the ignition switch is at fault, and yet I can't imagine how you could have gotten three bad ones in a row.

    Ray
    Last edited by raycow; 11-24-2012 at 12:01 PM.

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