"just under 12 volts" sounds a low to me. If you haven't tried jumpstarting, see if that works. If it does replace or recharge the battery....if it doesn't try testing it the way Kalli said.

 

A battery can still hold 12.3V+ and be dead as a doornail. There's more to a battery than just voltage. That said, anything under 12.3V isn't fully charged. Get it checked with a load tester (or electronic test unit) and go from there.

 

I tested the engine/chassis/ground terminal of the battery with thecontinuity test feature on my multimeter and it indicated that they were all connected. Then I tried whatkalli said, but I didn't think I could get the jumper cable safely on the terminal of the new starter, it has 3 terminals very close together. So I took the cable that ran from the starter to the relay and just connected it from the starter to the battery. All that happened was a loud clunk from the starter, the engine didn't crank. I put a wrench on the harmonic balancer and was able to turn the engine at least one revolution. Any other ideas? Should I try jumping it?

 

Check battery voltage.If its good then the starter might have high resistance.

 

Try this (cheap load test) hook your volt meter across the battery as you did before. It reads 12v? Hit the key and watch the meter. If it takes a big fall, your battery is dead.

 

Dude, jumpstart the car. I would have done that first. Clicking starter solenoid, usually means dead battery. It could mean loose connections, but it's usually a dead battery. Try jumpstarting first, if the car starts from a jump.....replace or recharge the battery. If you are certain the battery is good (load tested, or used it in another car, or the jumpstart didn't work), then check the continuity. Checking the battery with a voltmeter alone is no good. The battery can read 12 volts when not undera load and still be bad. Also, your connections could test good with a ohmeter (continuuity), but still not be good under a load.


From what you tried it sounds like the battery is dead...clunk when you connected the cable straight to battery, but this isn't certain as the reason Kalli suggested jumper leads was to bypass possible bad cable connections to the starter and to ground....you didn't eliminate these with the test, but it does sound to me like the battery is dead.

I'm not telling you to buy a battery, I'm not there and wouldn't presume to tell you to spend money without testing things out first.....try the jumpstart and let us know what happens.

Good luck

 

Update: After checking the wiring and batteryI determined that the problem was a low battery combined with a dirty battery cable connection. So the engine cranks fine now, however the engine isn't starting. I sprayed some quick start fluid into the carburetor and still nothing. I checked the voltage across the ignition coil while turning the ignition and it read very low, less than 1V. Any idea what this problem could be, my thought is that it's the starter relay because the wire between the relay and the coil tested fine. I have an Ignitor II and Flamethrower II coil, not sure if that really matters.

 

I think you are getting mixed up on how to check your voltages. Put your neg lead on the batt ground and the pos lead at the + term of the coil. What kind of power do you have there. If that is good...or you could even do first. Pull the coil wire from dist and hold near ground (engine) while cranking. Do you get spark?

Note: when checking for power at the coil, check it with the key in run position and the start position.

 

Yeah, you're right. That was dumb, I was checking the voltage across the coil, which unlike capacitors you can't do since it's a solid conductor. So what's next, pulling a plug and checking if there is a spark?

 

OK, so I measured the coil voltage correctly this time, but it's only reading 9.75V. Also I pulled the cable that runs from the coil to the distributor and held it close to the body while someone started the engine but there was no spark. Is the coil voltage too low to spark or is my coil dead?