Hello,

The engine won't crank on my recently-restored '66 Mustang, and I am trying to diagnose the problem before paying to have it hauled to a shop. I am a noob, so please forgive me if I am not the best at articulating the problem. Here is what I have tried so far:

1. I do not believe the battery is a problem because the headlights work fine. And, when I turn the key in the ignition (with the headlights on), the headlights stay lit but dim slightly.

2. I tried starting the car in neutral to see if the problem is in the park/neutral safety switch. No luck.

3. Using a screwdriver, I tried bridging (a) the connector on the solenoid where the hot wire from the battery connects to the solenoid to (b) the connector on the solenoid to the immediate right of that connector. I did this at the suggestion of a mechanic. Although this caused a spark, the engine did not crank.

4. I also tried following the cable from the solenoid to the starter, and I could not detect any problems with the cable.

Any thoughts or suggestions as to other things I should look into or try are MUCH appreciated.

 

Can you crank it manually? Are you sure the transmission is in neutral or park? Did you try pulling the distributor and then cranking it?

 

Did it crank at any time after the recent restoration? If not, obviously the restoration shop has got to own up to this. If it did, what was recently changed?

 

Can you turn the motor by hand at the crank? Do you hear a click when you try and jump the solenoid? Check to see if you have power on the big terminal coming "out" of the solenoid when you jump it. If not, sol bad. If so, starter bad.

 

Does the negative battery cable go directly to the engine block? Make sure that connection is good.

Pull the starter and test it using some jumper cables.

 

good suggestion. if you do that and the selonoid/wires get hot, then you're grounding out.
Check the connection from selonoid (far right) going to the starter.
Make sure the cable doesn't touch ground anywhere and that the connector only connects to the port on the starter, it must not touch the starter housing itself

Kalli