Power inside, Relays clicking but no power to ignition system

Tiny
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Fixed a friends car. It needed all new gaskets and an inlet heater hose. Repaired everyhting but car wouldnt start. Relized I was 180 out on the distributor so I fixed that. Cranked car and it started but was a little rough. Turned it off figuring I was a tooth off on the distributor. Went to start the car again and everything inside comes on, relays click, but nothing in the engine. No spark coming from coil and nothing from the starter either. Battery is charged so I figured it must be ignition switch symptoms seemed dead on. I also turned the lights on and attempted to start the car no voltage draw whatso ever. Lights stayed bright. No dim at all. So I bought a switch and put it in but no change. So I started trouble shooting figuring it could neutral safety swith or crank sensor. Then I noticed a harness had been battery acid at eaten at the base (see manuel picture of chasis highlighted area is the harness. Wires look intact but harness will need to be replaced but I do not think if it is this harness it would of effected the starter. So I am not fully convienced that this is the reason the car will not turn over. So I need guidence in this.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 12:14 AM

34 Replies

Tiny
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It is very likely that this wiring problem is the cause of your problems. It is also likely that there are other problems in the wiring since this one is there.
I would check all of the wiring in this area to make sure it looks good. Another common problem area is under the fuse/relay center in the engine compartment.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 1:36 AM
Tiny
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I checked the starter and there is no power going to it at all which leads me to believe that it has be to be a ground or neutral saftey switch. Possibly a ASD relay or crank sensor. If there is no power going to the postive side of the soleniod then something has to be stopping it becuse that is a pretty staight shot from the battery to starter. And like I said I know iginition switch is good and relays are clicking. I also went through a visual inspection of the rest of teh wiring harnesses and everything else looks good, not to say there couldnt be something I am not seeing.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 12:31 PM
Tiny
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What do you mean by "the relays are clicking"?
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 2:32 PM
Tiny
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When I turn the turn the ignition switch to the on position I can hear the relay click in both the ignition coil relay and starter rely. But no power.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 2:47 PM
Tiny
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I have also swapped out the relays (in the fuse box) just to be sure that they are good and they all work. I also checked all fuses inside and under the hood to make sure I wasnt wasting time or money. Everything looks good. No blown fuses. And if it was a ground problem or battery connection problem I shouldnt have power to anything, which everything inside of the car works fine (dash panel, a/c) and outside too (lights, convertible top, windows, etc.) Its just the ignition/start system, that seems to be diabled. And there is not an anti theft system on this vehicle. And by the way thanks for replying and so fast. That's awesome and very much appreciated. :)
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 2:56 PM
Tiny
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Do you have a voltmeter available for testing?
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 4:44 PM
Tiny
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Yes. I have a multimeter and a test light. Also I read that if the neutral saftey swith was bad that the reverse lights shouldnt come on. Not sure if that is correct but figured I'd try it and I have reverse lights.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 4:52 PM
Tiny
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OK. What is the voltage reading at the relays? There should be 4 or 5 pins that the relays plug into. Read the voltage on the starter relay after you unplug it and let me know what it is.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 5:47 PM
Tiny
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Ran a small wire off of each pin on the relay and taped them to them on each side "as seen on u-tube" (see below), placed relay back into fuse panel and tested it. Getting 12v while key is in off position of I put my mulitimeter on it. When key is turned to on position it's reading just under 12V. Not sure if that is normal and I do have continuity in the realy. Hot wire is good on test light. Also tested battery and that is good
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 6:41 PM
Tiny
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I need you to completely remove the relay, (don't hook any wires to it) then check the voltage on each pin that the relay would plug into. Then let me know what the voltage is.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:13 PM
Tiny
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With key in off position #30 get 12.08, 85 gets 0, 86 gets 0, 87 gets 0. With key in on position #30 11.90 and 86 gets.36, the other to gets 0.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:26 PM
Tiny
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OK, so the first problem is that your battery is completely drained (yes even thought the lights stay on the battery can still be dead). The only other thing that might be going on is if there is a wiring problem between the battery and the relay center.
What is the voltage reading on the battery?
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:38 PM
Tiny
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12.8 but I already swapped the battery with a fully charged one from another vehicle to see if that was the problem and it still didnt crank. And I've put this battery into my chrysler voyager which is also V6 and my van turned over no problem.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:50 PM
Tiny
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If your battery is showing 12.8 volts (This is fully charged) but the hot wire to your relay is only showing 12 volts, then there is a problem with the wiring between the battery and relay box.
A battery at 12.8v is fully charged, a battery at 12v is fully discharged.
I would clean and tighten the battery terminals then start following the wiring from the battery to see where the problem is.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:54 PM
Tiny
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Sorry about that I meant 12.08. Which is what is reading at the fuse panel. So what connects the coil (since we have no power there either even though that relay is also working and the starter). Becuase whatever that is has to be where the problem lies. I know I was getting spark in teh coil, distributor, plugs and starter. Then nothing. That fast. Do you not think that this is the neutral saftey?
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:58 PM
Tiny
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12.08 is not enough voltage. You can keep looking other places, but this is a problem. If this is your "fully charged battery" then you need to either get a new one or charge it again until it shows at least 12.65 volts.
This may not be the only problem that this system has but you need to fix it before you continue.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 8:03 PM
Tiny
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No I have another one in my van that has 12.8 and I can put this battery into my van and charge it. It is drained from testing everything yesterday and the day before and being turned on and off with no charge.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 8:06 PM
Tiny
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OK put that one in, then see what the reading is at the relay.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 8:11 PM
Tiny
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With key off #30-12.88 key on 12.68. #85 key off 0 key on.27, the others 0 key on or off.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 8:29 PM
Tiny
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And earlier I stated that #86 had.36v when the battery was dead t that would of actually been #85 not 86 this is because I was looking at the fuse opposite of what it would of been had it been plugged into panel and I just want to clafiy so we have no mistakes that lead us down a dead end path.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 8:56 PM

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