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1981 erude 150 starter solenoid woes

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boydog40

New member
cannot seem to get my starter to engage
new starter
new wire harness
new battery cables
new solenoid
when i push the key for choke i can hear that click
but when i turn the key to start - nothing
test light on negative, touch the tan wire on the small post on the solenoid, turn the key to start, it lights up like it should, but no start
place pos and neg to each small post and get a strong click
im at a loss
is solenoid bad even though i have a strong click?
thanks
 
You have apparently replaced everything except the battery without troubleshooting anything.

From what I read above, turning the key to start lights a test light but no solenoid click. Is this correct?

You say new wire harness. Is this the engine harness with big red connector, boat harness with big red connector or battery harness? Are the connections on the battery, solenoid & starter clean? Cleaned with a wire brush?

I'd guess your battery is junk. Why?
Because with the extra resistance of wires, a neutral safety switch & ignition switch there is not enough juice to cause the solenoid to pull in. You wire the solenoid direct & it pulls in with a good click but no crank. The solenoid is new, so most likely good. Starter is new, so most likely good. Remember, that test light draws virtually zero current so the fact it illuminates tells me little.

Have you load tested the battery?
Have you taken a jumper cable & jumpered direct from battery positive to starter post? I'm not talking about some cheap piece of 14 gauge wire, I'm talking about a true set of quality jumper cables using just 1 of the leads. Better yet, use the complete set of cables, battery negative to engine ground & battery positive direct to starter post.
 
hahahaha, new battery too!
initially only the starter gear would spin but not jump up to engage, thus the reason for the new solenoid, now it wont even do that,
red plug yes, made sure all pins aligned, new battery cables also
i have not jumped it with jumper cables yet, will try tomorrow and advise
 
Unlike a car starter, centrifugal force slings the starter drive up. The solenoid is strictly a heavy duty on/off switch.
Did you use quality parts or cheap Amazon/Chineesium junk?
 
keep in mind guys, its a 1981 model and all wiring etc appears to be original, main harness was cracked, and wires were green inside etc!
45.00 solenoid! from local parts house
i jumped everything straight to the starter and she turned but still did not jump up, so i charged the battery
ill report more later today
thanks for the help!
 
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