click noise but wont star

[ismaelAE86]

hello guys i have a 1985 gts i just put a new front harness and now when i try to turn the car on all i can hear is a click sound or noise coming from the passenger side i think is coming from the fuel pump relay but no idea of what is going on the engine wont turn nothing all i can hear is a click please help thanks alot guys.

[yangster]

check ur fuse

[allencr]

The small wire going to the starter - does it get power when the key is moved to start, and does the starter work when it is jumped from the battery?

[ismaelAE86]

I will check my fuse and i haven't try that i will check if the little cable is getting power but everything turns on in my gauges lights everything but when i turn the key all i get is a click sound

[gotzoom?]

Could be starter contacts. Part# is 28226-64110. You need two of them.

[Jeonsah]

If the car ran before and now it is having this problem, you could just push start the car. If it starts, then it is most likely something related to the starter.

[MisterJerk]

unless your battery isnt strong enuff. just sayin.

[kulitko]

Might be the battery. I had the same problem. It was either loose or didnt have anymore cranking power.

[koukipete86]

Same problem i have right now, i checked all my fuses already, i can push start it but when i try starting it alone i just get one click .. What can it be?

[KonaTrueno723]

If connections are good, battery's strong,& ground is good to the block..then go grab a buddy & have him turn & hold the ignition key down to start, while YOU with a hammer reach down & lightly tap the starters solenoid. If it engages & starts, get a new starter or replace the contacts as gotzoom suggested

[allencr]

If the solenoid contacts were F'd up, they'd only need to be filed to be good enough for another 20 years, along with the big copper washer like contact on the plunger.
If the solenoid contacts are F'd up, the sound WOULD NOT be a 'click' from under the dash but a hard loud metallic thunk coming from the starter side of engine compartment of the starter drive/gear/bendix being slammed into the ring gear & the solenoid plunger hitting the contacts.

[Red]

Try logic.

From what we've been told, the car was working 100% until for some reason the front harness was replaced.

And now the only "start" noise is the COR, the coil opening relay, clicking next to the glove box.

That means the connection between the ignition switch and the starter motor has been broken, because the starter motor is not clicking (sound of the "bendix" being engaged in the starter assembly) and then the starter motor is not spinning up. So there may be no power to the starter motor at all.

that could be a blow fuse, or a bad contact. And if the "new" harness wasn't brand new, it could have broken wires, bad contacts, or just wrong wiring.

That's all got to be checked out first. And it might help to know why the harness was replaced.

[gotzoom?]

allencr, filing the contacts won't help. The problem is that the contacts get worn down to the point that the disk on the plunger no longer touches the contacts. The contacts and the disk are both copper and they wear when the disk turns during starter operation (dumb design, imo). I've done this repair on a couple starters and I don't share your optimism that they will last another 20 years, since the disk on the plunger will probably wear to the point that it can no longer touch the contacts. Since the cost of two "starter kits" is about the same as a rebuilt starter from your local autoparts shop, it's probably not worth doing the repair on this particular starter. It's easy to open up the cover and see if the contacts look really worn down.

Here's a how-to for a different strarter, but the process is the same: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/starter/

[Red]

zoom, like allen suggests, there's no reason to even suspect the solenoid contacts are involved. The new harness is what "broke" the starting, there's nothing to indicate a starter failure was happening at the same time.

IF the diagnostics said "starter" and IF the starter failed diagnostics, that would be one thing. But for now? That's a total waste of time, a wild goose chase.

[KonaTrueno723]

^^All of the above are good & valid points guys..lets just hold back for a bit & wait for ismael's findings on that starter signal wire allencr said to check

[allencr]

Can we all agree that there is no fuse, excluding those fusible link thingys on the battery terminal?

[ismaelAE86]

Guys thanks alot for all the comments they all help i will be fetting some cash this week i will star one by one to see wish one is the problem but thanks alot everyone i will check and let you guys know thanks and yes all of the above are really helpull points.

[ismaelAE86]

The harness was replace bacause the plevious woner started to jump broken wires straight to the fuse box wish causes a major burn down so yeah

[Red]

"the plevious woner started to jump broken wires straight to the fuse box wish causes a major burn down"
Jumping wires back to the fuse box won't hurt anything. All of the wires in the harness pretty much go there anyhow. The only question is whether they are the proper gauge wire, to the proper location, by the correct route. You replace defective wires in a harness by running new wires, not necessarily by running a whole new and expensive harness. And finding a new, really new, harness for these cars may not be easy.

It sounds like the PO had other electrical problems and you may still have some of those.

[ismaelAE86]

the harness had broken wires everywere burns wires it was a disaster so i just got another harness for a good price and jumping wires from the fuse box all the way to the engine bay can cause a burn down sir trust me i had a jetta and the same happen to it.

[Red]

" jumping wires from the fuse box all the way to the engine bay can cause a burn down sir trust me"

That's not quite correct. Improperly jumping wires can cause a fire anywhere in a car. That's got nothing to do with properly running jumper wires, from the fuse box to the engine bay or anywhere else. I have done total rewiring jobs and "emergency" field repairs on cars and large boats, and can assure you that the burning problem has nothing to the jumper wires, it is because someone dfidn't know what they were doing and either used to wrong wire size, or made the wrong connections.

Most of the guys who work on cars have no idea that car wiring is in SAE wire guages, while the rest of the US uses AWG wire guages, and the two have very different ampacity (power capacity) ratings. The wire size has to be picked to carry load based on voltage drop, round trip circuit length, and load as well. You can't just buy a roll of wire, run a jumper that is 4x longer than the original, and expect it to work. The rules are fairly simple, but you won't find a wiring guide at the PepBoys next to the rack of wire. Matter of fact, most of the wiring on those racks doesn't even say which gauge system it was marked in, and that's enough to cause a fire all by itself.

But that's got nothing to do with jumpers, harnesses, and fuse boxes. That's just called some people should not be doing wiring until after they learn to do it properly.

This is also why, thankfully but inconveniently, they don't sell discounted dynamite at the local WalMart.<G>