I could run the wire and test socket and leave it set up in the car, but a few questions:

Would an alligator clip hold while driving?

I have a button for a wire going from the fuse box to the solenoid from the previous owner. Should the clip go on the original wire or would the stud with both wires be fine? I am thinking it should test fine if on the stud, but want to make sure before I get under it and get it hooked up.

Sorry for all the stupid questions, but this is frustrating because it gives me joy driving the car and when it doesn't start, that ruins the enjoyment.

alligator clips will not hold up to being a connection while driving because normal vibration will most likely pop them off.
wiring can cause untold amounts of frustration and hair loss, especially intermittent issues.
and yes, i have no hair on the top of my head, and it's rapidly falling off the sides every day...........
no asked question is stupid. that is how one learns. [until you get old like me, and forget stuff due to the lack of hair on the top of the head, which causes knowledge to "evaporate" out of the bald dome. ]

So far your questions are very good. See responses above in the quote

Thanks. I'm hoping to get under the car to look at it soon. Lots of stuff going on and need to be in a calm mood when tinkering on the car.

slow, calm, and methodical, will solve every problem, as well as asking questions when needed.

So I got out to the car yesterday and no darn room for a clip to go on without dropping the starter and I didn't have time for that at the moment. I did do a few things:


Tried to check continuity between the S terminal and battery terminal lug. That was a tight fit with the multimeter as well. I'm not sure if it wasn't touching the terminals or not, but didn't appear to have continiuty. Tried it with the negative battery cable disconnected and connected.

Hooked up the negative battery cable and tested 12.4 V or so at the positive cable on the starter.

Tried jumping the solenoid with a screwdriver and didn't hear a click, but saw some sparks. At that point, I was getting frustrated and was done under the car.

I got in the car and hooked up the test socket light at the NSS (bypassed it) and it was working fine. Hooked the NSS back up and the starter cranked. Tried it a few times and was good each time.

I'm pretty sure the power to the NSS is good as it has always tested good. If I drop the starter, I'm going to a local guy to have him check it out and probably have him rebuild it since it's out.

One thing I forgot to mention is it will sometimes start with a portable jump box if there is nothing when turning the key and the bypass button doesn't work. If I hook the plug in old style jumper/charger on it in the garage or get a jump from another car, it always starts with the key.

I'm pretty sure that if the NSS was already bypassed when you got the car, the previous guy couldn't figure out what was causing the temporary problem when he had the car.

I played the car mechanic game for a lot of years, seems a lot of GM guys would install temporary fixes that turned into permanent fixes, until they didn't work any more. Then they tried to figure out how to create another temporary fix, rather then fix the original problem. I'm sorry to say, that sounds exactly like what is going on here.

There are test procedures in place to solve the original problem. Remove the cobble job, and go through the complete test procedure, in order, step by step. Skipping a step makes the entire process wrong. As long as the cobble job is still in place, what ever meter readings you are getting are probably not accurate.

Other wise, just throw more crap at it and hope it works for a while, again.

12.4 volts at the solenoid is a problem. You need battery voltage there.

What is the battery voltage across the terminals (not the cables)?

You should have the same at the starter.

Time for voltage drop testing. It would be best to have a helper but if this drop is present testing by yourself, it should be easy to find.

Meter set to a low voltage scale, one end to battery positive, the other to starter battery connection. Voltage should read zero. Now crank, what does meter show?


Mov3 battery end of meter to negative, meter should read same as battery. Now crank, what does meter show?

It may have been more than 12.4, it was early in the morning and I didn't post that until the next day and didn't write down the exact reading. I will try a voltage drop test next. But want to make sure I'm reading it correctly.

Get battery voltage reading for a base.

Set meter to 20V (usually what I use for car), Put one end of meter (either red or black) to positive post on battery and the other on the starter battery terminal. Voltage will be zero. Would I just bump the starter to get it to turn over or actually try to start the car? Note the meter reading. Not sure I understand how it will get a voltage reading since it's not a positive and ground set up, any easy ways to explain how it works so I understand it when I am working on it?

Then move the battery end to the other terminal. Meter and battery should be the same reading. Crank (again, bump or actual start the car?) and note reading.

What would the entire test procedure be? I am not finding anything on the internet for the exact issue I'm having. I am 99% sure it's an issue from the output side of the NSS to the starter. I just don't have a whole lot of room in the starter terminal area and an extra set of hands is usually not available to help.

It may have been more than 12.4, it was early in the morning and I didn't post that until the next day and didn't write down the exact reading.

_____ being exact is kinda necessary for this, we're looking for small differences in voltage. For example a charged battery is 12.6, a half charged battery is 12.4

I will try a voltage drop test next. But want to make sure I'm reading it correctly.

Get battery voltage reading for a base.

_____ yes. At some point a second meter will be handy but we can work with 1


Set meter to 20V (usually what I use for car)

____ we're looking for differences of tenths of a volt, if you have a 2 volt setting or millivolt setting that's what to use.

, Put one end of meter (either red or black) to positive post on battery and the other on the starter battery terminal. Voltage will be zero.

_____ correct, no current in wire so no voltage yet.

Would I just bump the starter to get it to turn over or actually try to start the car?

____ will needtocrank a coupleseconds. At this point we're trying to load the circuit and see if there's too much voltage drop through it. Eventually we will test the signal circuit too.

Note the meter reading. Not sure I understand how it will get a voltage reading since it's not a positive and ground set up, any easy ways to explain how it works so I understand it when I am working on it?

____ every wire will have some resistance and the resistance will lower the voltage from one end of the wire to the other. We're measuring how much the voltage drops from one end to the other. Too much drop isno bueno.



Then move the battery end to the other terminal. Meter and battery should be the same reading. Crank (again, bump or actual start the car?) and note reading.

____ at this point we're testing voltage drop through the starter and ground cable. There's going to be a bunch of moving test points and cranking. Note we don't need a full length crank until the engine fires but at least a couple seconds each time to get a solid reading.

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Thanks. I saved that to a word document to print and take out to the garage as a guide. Like I said, I'm no mechanic, but like to see how things work.

My meter has 2000 mV and 200 mV, which would be best to use?

If I don't want it to start, should I do anything to prevent it from starting? Pull the coil wire off the distributor cap? Or just have the key person count one thousand 1, one thousand 2 and it it starts it does and shut it off? Not sure if pulling coil wire will mess with voltage readings.

Sorry for more questions, but if I'm going to go out an tinker with it, I like to make sure I'm ready and have all my ducks in a row. Especially when I have to find a helper and that's one of the harder parts.

No problem with the questions, better to find out rather than d it all over.

If you have 2000mv that's a 2 volt scale, use that. We'll be looking for readings between 0 and 700 mv. More than that indicates big problems.

We don't need the engine to start and it's not a problem if it does beyond inconvenience. If you want to disable the ignition, I'd take the wire from coil negative to the points. Coil wire can work but there's still potential for sparks. I'd also wire the choke open to lessen the chance of flooding or fouling plugs. Hopefully we'll narrow this down before that happens.

If you're planning on getting a couple steps ahead, a voltage drop test from the starter signal stud ( small, on the solenoid) and battery positive would be my next step and then from the engine block to battery negative(isolates the ground cable).

Readings from those 4 locations will determine which way to go next.

Does this vehicle use top post battery or side connection? I'm not sure when GM made that switch. Top is better here as it's easier to get the meter to the post. Important, use the posts as much as possible, battery cable ends are notorious failure points and we want to test them out. Same at the starter connections, get on the studs vs the wire ends.

Not sure if it matters, but since you mentioned them and I didn't think of it:

It has HEI and not points.

It's an electric choke on the carb.

It's a side post battery, but use the charging adapters to be able to use top post cables. Couldn't find long enough 2GA battery cables for the Monte as it's like almost 2' longer than a Chevelle. Stock was 4GA, but when one cable terminal end broke I decided to go 2GA.

I did mess with some readings at the battery / engine compartment area yesterday. I'll post the numbers when I get a bit more time. Have to go to work and running late.

I do have this to test batteries and it has a "start" test. Maybe I'll try that just for fun to see what it says. I am not sure if it would hook to the battery or down on the starter as I haven't ever selected that option and the user manual isn't very helpful.
https://motopowers.com/products/mot...tool-digital-battery-alternator-analyzer

I did some tinkering around and will post soon what I have done and voltage readings. Been busy with other things and no time really. It did start today to take it for a spin with the key and everything hooked up as it was before I bypassed the NSS. Got home and let it sit for a few minutes and it needed the bypass button, but fired up. Battery tester I have showed 12.6V. Used the start mode and it showed 10.2V min and 13.6V max. Guessing the 13.6V is what the charging voltage was when it fired up. Took a few seconds to get to the tester as I had nobody helping so I couldn't see it in live time or use a multimeter.

13.6 is charging voltage. The 10.6 isn't unusual when cranking as that's a big draw on the battery.

So what I have done all looks good so far? I'm going to mess with it more when I get a chance. I just want to know if I have found an issue yet. I thought I read under 9V or so when cranking is bad.

i always thought most neutral safety switches just completed a ground circuit ?
at least that's how i have always wired them up on most [if not all] makes when i have used a universal harness or wired from scratch.

It can break the hot or ground, mopar typically break the ground for the remote starter solenoid.