Good evening gentleman
I was at the mall tonight waiting for my wife when I had to move my car a little closer to the main door.After shutting the engine off for a few minutes I tried to restart it again and NOTHING!No engine turning over at all.I was able to fit under the car to gently tap on the bendix and starter thinking maybe it was the problem but again NOTHING. There is no clicking that i could hear or anything else.I have plenty of juice in the battery because all the lights come on including the glow plug light etc etc.I have also tried it in neutral thinking it could have been the neutral switch but again NOTHING
1983 300 SD


What may of gone wrong???

Check the three terminal block on the right front wheel well under the hood. There is connections there for the starter and the power for the car comes from there. Check that the terminals are clean. You can also activate the starter from there. Jump from the heavy wire to the smaller one. The starter should engage. This will tell you if the starter is good or not. If the starter works from there but not at the key, Either the neutral safety switch or the key switch failed. You might need a "Hard Start" relay.

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My Truck.. 2007 DODGE, 5.9 Cummins, 6spd stick, 4X4. My car..1977 240D, OTHER WHEELS...1955 VW Oval window bug, European Delivery (Holland) with a 1700cc, 2 barrel, Porsche drum brakes. 1939 WILLYS Pick-up. 1967 Triumph 200cc Tiger Cub. 1976 Honda 550F 4cyl Motor Cycle.

From witch wires do i need to attemp a jump start.I know the large red one is to be used,but witch other one should I jump from?

Jump from one of the large screws to the small screw and it should turn over.

Ok I did that and all i hear is a clicking noise from the glow plug wiring box on the left fender.Now i had a spare box like this and i did replace it but i have the same problem.Could it be the starter is fried???

Guy's
Is there a way to do a bench test on a starter and how do we go along doing this?
I was able to remove the starter on my 1983 300 SD with out much problems...Did have to remove the exhaust pipe at the exit of the turbo and the rear cross member to be able to retrieve the starter itself.All in all about 1.0 hour
Regards
Dan

You could bench test it by hooking it up to a known good battery and see if it spins. Just use some ratchet straps or something to hold it down. If its working it will twist and bounce from the torque. Not a perfect test since it wont be under load but it will test the bendix for you which is the part thats more than likely bad if you get no noise from it.

Why not just "bench test" it in the car by hooking it directly to the battery? This will by-pass everything else and tell you if the starter works, and if it's capable of spinning the engine. Use caution, and double check that the car is in park because you will be bypassing the neutral safety switch (don't ask why I mentioned this ).

He mentioned he already removed the starter. Should really test it before he reinstalls it in case its no good.

I don't know of any parts houses these days that won't do a free proper test of a starter or alternator or generator....

Ok guy's this is the result of my bench test.
I connected a cable from the small screw on the selenoid and put the other end on the positive of the battery,the other cable was a ground.What happend was the small wheel with teeth on them in the starter came out and went back in when i would remove the cable...Is this what is suppose to happen?I was expecting the stater to kick more then that...Someone help me here im only a novice at this.
regards
Dan

that is what is supposed to happen for what you did, although all you did was tested the solenoid. This means you know now that the solenoid is good.

Now you need to test the actual starter motor... to do this you need some heavy cable to go from the back of solenoid (large screw terminals) and still the smaller wire to trip the solenoid and test the starter.

Kool
give me a few moments and Ill be right back with the results!

Ok
I did exactly what you said and the starter motor engaged and was spinning very fast.So i guess now my problems is somewhere else...What about the nutral switch? Could this be the problem and if so where is it located?

well, you have got to make sure all your connections are clean when you put the starter back on.

Your right... if your not hearing clicking or anything the NSS could be the culprit.

I agree with motorhead about the wiring may be so old that it can not flow enough amperage to operate the solenoid.

Put the starter back on and report back.