no start even jumping 1 and 3 terminals. 1981 w126
 

This issue driving me crazy. I sparked battery installing new starter one solenoid won't even click I replaced the starter and won't even click jumping terminals. Everything else is working great. I'm renting a car cause this is my only car. Does anyone know what it could be or who in orange county is good at fixing this.

Have you tried hot wiring directly to the starter? Wasn't the first starter bad? Did you bench test the starter before installing it?

yeah it was bench tested and was fine with jumper box. now i get nothing... do you have a wiring diagram for the starter to the terminal box. maybe i have something wrong...

part of a pic from another member. The Terminal Block was listed as under the Battery Tray on an older model SD.

The connections marked with the red Xs are the wires going to a remote Starter Switch.

here is a picture of my setup.... the owner before me put in a relay that im not sure what its for. it could be for a aftermarket stereo that is hooked up...

it seems mine goes in the order of
#1 junction red wire to relay purple into wire loom that goes up into firewall

#2 two blue wires one goes to alternator regulator and one into same loom as the purple wire in junction one into firewall

#3 two 10 gauge wires going to alternator power supply.

#4 two 10 gauge wires going to starter that join the 4 gauge + wire to the + terminal on the battery.

the starter ignition wire plugs into the bottom relay position opposite sides of the red that join the juntion #1 position...

should i ditch the relay for now and hook it up factory?

What is the c100 fuse block like. Could this be a issue. I tried to look it up but didn't see anything about it. All I found is that it's located under the fuse box.

Your engine still grounded to the chassis?

That's my pic, it worked, but the FSM has a different set to connect.

Seems you're not getting anything, measure voltage across those two.

Is the relay working? But if you're putting 12 volts directly to the starter and it's not working, something else is up. I'd use a jumper cable to ground the starter to the negative terminal on the battery. I'd then use a jumper cable to provide 12 volts directly to the main terminal on the starter. I'd then use a small wire directly from the battery to activate the solenoid. If the starter does not run under those conditions either, the problem isn't in your wiring.

Does the car have an after market alarm? Have you tried starting it in neutral? Don't scoff, I drove 10 miles once to help a friend and the problem was her son hadn't put the car into the "park" position. He drove a manual shift and as he was taught he put it into neutral and applied the park brake. We both had a good laugh over it.

Since your starter is brand new and was bench tested before install it has to be a wiring/ connection issue or battery issue.

The relay that the PO added was probably to circumvent a weak/ dirty ignition switch or NSS. The starter solenoid draws 8 amps and goes directly through the ign and NSS switch. A weak/ dirty switch will not carry 8 amps so it was rewired to turn on a relay instead. A relay coil needs much less current than 8 amps to pull in. needs around 100 ma depending on the relay.

Don't forget to check the ground strap already mentioned.