Alright, so I put a new wire harness into my car over the early summer and am finally gettin some more time. So here is where I am at:
Headlights, interior, radio, ect all work fine. The engine is all wired up; there are a couple extra wires that appear to be for the A/C which my car doesn't have and the new harness did. I have a weisco HEI distributor. The starter is a reman but is kinda garbage (will be replacing soon, just trying to get it running).

I have the pos. on the Ign. coil wired to the DBL* that is marked for Ignition 1, it leads off the Ign. switch into the bulk head point marked N on my diagram (haynes). The distributor from there is wired to the coil + to + and - to -.

The starter relay is wired correctly. I kinda question the neutral safety switch wire. It runs from the same bulk head connector as the wiper motor and I may have it connected wrong. However, the neutral safety switch has 3 wires that run to a plug, and then to the bulk head. The bulk head then has a single wire lead, that is what I have attached to my "neutral safety switch" spot on the starter relay.

The starter is then ran to the battery with it's obvious wires. When I turn the key... NOTHING happens. It doesn't even sound like it wants to turn over, it does not sound like I have power at all. All my lights and acc. work, so it has a proper ground.

My thoughts are maybe
A. Dead starter
B. Wrong ign. wire to coil
C. Bad starter relay
D. NO CLUE
or any or all of the above

I know that was long and probably kinda confusing.
Thanks a lot in advance!

Sorry to say, but you're gonna have to get a wiring diagram from a FSM, and go at it with a voltmeter.

What kind of car, BTW?

It's in a 73 dodge dart... nothing obvious that I am just missing then huh?

Have you tried jumping the starter relay with the key on to see if it will start? You should be able to find a usable wiring diagram here. http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=18

It does not sound like a electrical gremlin to me.


The ones I have seen, hiss and crackle then the let all the smoke out of the wiring.


It sound as if you ignition switch wiring is not right.

Use a volt meter or test bulb to check for electricity.

I'm talking about taking a screwdriver and touching the two bigger terminals on the starter relay on the fender. That does what the key does in the start position. That will tell you if the starter etc.is hooked up right.

Jumming the post will tell if the starter is working, not if it is wired properly. The yellow wire from the ignition switch is what activates the starter solenoid.

Well, thats at least a start hahaha. Been bangin my head over this for a couple hours. I sure hate wiring and wire diagrams. Sorry for the guy who has to write them!

I feel sorry for the guys wife. I haven't seen a electrical engineer that was wright in the head yet.

Make sure your has a good ground with the neutral safety wire.
This diagram is for my truck but is pretty standard on the wiring

Well the starter is good. I replaced the relay, the battery post is connected, the solenoid wired, the ignition wire is wire to the bottom left post. The bottom right says ground on some diagrams and "neutral safety switch" on others. My neutral safety switch has a plug with three wires that lead to the bulk head connector. There is no single wire that leads from the trans to the relay. Is that correct?

Other than that, the motor still won't even turn. It doesn't even click when i turn the key. Thats why i suspected the relay. I am outta ideas.

Try running a wire from that NSS terminal on the relay to ground. That will bypass the NSS.

I did that actually. It worked, but I had a bad connection or something. It spun it, sparked, then i pulled the wire. After that it wouldn't do it again, maybe I fried the new relay. No wires looked burn, so i'll try again tomorrow.

All the wire diagrams say that the center wire from the NSS (brown and yellow stripe) connects directly to the starter relay. I know that is not how it was prior. But then again, I was using a slant six wire harness for the the 318. Not sure if there is a difference.

I guess ill fiddle around a little more, but what are your thoughts on cutting the middle wire off from its existing clip and wiring it directly to the Relay as the diagram shows it.

Currently, all three wires off the NSS are on one mini wire harness that runs from the NSS to the bulk head.

That's a good solution. The center post on the NNS switch is a ground for the starter relay so wiring direct is fine.

You're the best stumpy.

HA! well this is horse dung. I don't get it at all. I have a test lamp. I have power at the starter, i have power to solenoid when I turn the key. I have the starter out, but I have a wire grounding it to the battery (just to test obviously). The NSS lead on the Relay is grounded to the battery as well. When i turn the key, I get a tiny click and my lights slightly slighty dim. BUT nothing at the starter.

I am placing the probe on the stater terminals not the wires and I am getting a bright light. I can hook the starter up to jumper cables and it works.

This is just weird. Also, now I have some tricky business going on with my blinkers (one stays on) and my rear lights (all of them) stay on as soon as the battery is connected.

I am pullin my hair out at this giant cluster F***.

You need at least a battery cable size wire to the starter as a ground.It's a very simple circuit. I don't understand all the problem you're having. If the starter relay is hooked up correctly and you are grounding the NSS terminal on the relay it should start. It's that simple. Are you sure the battery is good and the block grounds and battery cables are clean at both ends?