1999 OBW No Crank No Start

[Husky]

Hi all,

 

I have a 1999 OBW with a 5 speed, and I just finished doing a transmission job on it... or so I thought. When I went to turn the key, I got no start and no crank. All that happens is a click in the cabin that sounds like a relay and a slight whir from the power steering pump. The starter motor shows the same voltage as the battery, but there is no change in voltage from either the battery terminals or the starter terminals when the key is turned.

 

Things I have checked so far:

 

-Neutral Switch and Reverse Switch connected

-Transmission ground connected

-Starter Motor appears to be connected correctly, with the negative on the bolt and the postive on the copper nut.

-Battery has a healthy voltage (The multimeter wouldn't read it correctly, but we compared it to a good battery and it was identical)

-Neutral Switch shows continuity in gear, and infinite resistance in neutral (which is contrary to what the Haynes Manual says should be correct? I *did* try starting it in gear instead to see if the logic was somehow reversed on the switch, but that had the exact same result)

-Reverse Switch shows continuity in reverse, and infinite resistance elsewhere (which is what the Haynes Manual says is correct)

-I did visually check the clutch switch on the pedal, and it appears to be functioning normally (it was also working before I did any work on the car, and is nowhere near the work that I did to the car.)

 

Possible Related thoughts:

 

-A few hours before I attempted starting the car, I attached it to a wall charger as it had been disconnected for almost a month. The charger was 12V 6A.

-When filling the transmission with gear oil, a decent quantity of it spilled in the engine bay due to the pump I was using to fill it having a hose come off. I did clean up as best as I could. (Perhaps a short somewhere?)

 

 

Any help and/or thoughts are appreciated

 

Thanks!

[lmdew]

Small wire on the back of the starter!

If it's not connected, the starter main contact's will not close and not battery voltage to the starter motor.

[1 Lucky Texan]

a 99 could coincidentally have bad starter solenoid contacts/plunger.

 

try whacking the starter with a piece of 2x4 . a coupla 'easy-ish' taps first, then harder if those don't work. If it starts - likely the solenoid needs rebuilding.

Edited June 24, 2015 by 1 Lucky Texan

[Husky]

imdew, when you say the small wire on the back of the starter, do you mean the wire that connects to the solenoid? I can take the starter out and take a look at it, but I don't think that should have become disconnected. Otherwise the only wires I know of that go to the starter are the ground wire and the positive cable. So.. which wire do you mean?

[1 Lucky Texan]

[Cougar]

As others are trying to tell you, the trouble is most likely with the starter solenoid contacts. The age of the car is such that this type of problem commonly happens. The contacts ware out and can't pass the high current needed by the starter motor. You can replace the contacts if you don't want to replace the whole starter.

[Husky]

This might sound weird, but I'm quite happy right now, so.. Thank you. You are all beautiful people.

 

...The problem was *indeed* with the solenoid wire.. it wasn't attached. Funny thing is that I don't even remember taking that off when I removed the starter, so it was easy to miss putting it back on.

 

Thank you again, my Subie is starting and running wonderfully now (and without any of the rumblies it had from before the center diff rebuild!)