Parked my R53 (manual) at night. In the morning, it wouldn't start. Car behaves exactly as if the clutch pedal was not depressed - chimes, audible fuel priming, dash lights on, but nothing from the starter, not even a click. Tried a jump although the battery looks good; no difference. Tried the other key; no difference. Verified the starter lock switch (mounted on the clutch master) was still connected. Checked slave cylinder; looks good, and the clutch is definitely going in and out properly (it's on a slight incline, and in 1st gear with parking brake off it won't roll back unless I depress the pedal). And the ground strap is tight.



So my next two guesses are a failed starter lock switch, or a problem with the starter (which is only about 18 months old). My questions right now are:



1) Before I put it up on the stands, is there a simple way to test the switch with a continuity tester or multimeter (and maybe a good strong magnet)?
Should the switch make any sound at all when I depress the clutch pedal?



2) Is there anything obvious that I might have overlooked?


3) Any pointers to a good guide for testing the solenoid?

 

Before you crawl underneath the car take a look at your ingnition switch and give it a test. Follow the directions here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...on-switch.html for what the readings should be and in which pins. Its a quick test as when the switch goes it can be rather sudden. Its also an easy fix as well.

 

Try a different battery.

If you are hearing the starter click than it is getting power and solenoid trigger.

 

Turns out it's the solenoid. I held off checking the ignition and clutch switches after I noticed that, contrary to my first post, I only get the fuel pump noise with the clutch depressed, and the battery and oil lights turn off when I turn the key to start, so both switches were at least making SOMETHING happen. Dug my way down to the solenoid, hooked up my grandfather's old remote starter, and got the exact same results - fuel pump ran, but no click or crank. Thanks for the input.

 

Oookay.....premature declaration of victory there. Update:


Pulled the starter out and bench-tested it; it seemed to work just fine. Reinstalled it; nada. I won't detail all the gyrations I went through, but the two that seem significant are 1) pulling the ignition switch, seeing nothing wrong with it, but running a little strip of fine sandpaper through the contacts anyway just for the hell of it and 2) picking up a slightly-used Chinese starter at the junkyard for $60. So....


The Chinese starter acts just like the Bosch unit that I started with: runs fine on the bench, but when I install it and turn the key, no click and no crank. The part that has me mystified is this: I can get either of them to crank while bolted in place by using a second vehicle for a jump, if I connect the positive jump cable to the B+ post on the starter, the negative cable to the armature of the starter (the metal piece that the starter and solenoid mount to), and bridge the B+ post and the S post with a remote starter. But if I take the negative cable off the starter armature and connect it to the negative jump point (driver's side of the engine bay), I get no click or crank. Move it back to the armature, it cranks. Move it back to the jump point, it does nothing. And the multimeter shows me 13.9 volts between the B+ and the S post with the negative jumper in EITHER position...so how the hell does the car know where the negative jumper is attached, and why does it make a difference? What am I missing here?

 

Did you check the ignition switch with a meter? When mine went even after some light sanding it wasn't enough to work.

Here's another thread about the starter that might be handy if you haven't checked the items yet https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er-switch.html

Have you cleaned all the ground connectors from the motor to the chassis? Checked to make sure the straps are all tightened down? The power cutoff to the jump point could be due to the EWS module, do you get power if the key is in the run position?

 

Just did a visual check of the switch innards; not sure what I should be looking for with a meter or test light. Will see what I can do with the info in your thread, and check to see if I might have missed a ground. Thanks.

 

Okay, great....after it sat all night, I charged the battery up, and it kicked right over. Could easily be the battery after all, but that leaves me wondering why it wouldn't start with a different battery connected. Will let it sit for a while and try again, and probably take the battery to be tested. Then I have to decide whether to leave the cheap Chinese starter in place, or put the Bosch back in and see what happens....glad it's working again, just wish I knew why.....grrr.

 

A day later, still mystified. Car is starting fine now, but I have no idea why. In the course of trying to sort this out I charged the battery multiple times, jumped with two different vehicles, had the battery tested, and tried a different starter, but ultimately I didn't change a single piece. Sticking with the Bosch starter for now and keeping the Chinese ("Tough One") one on the shelf just in case. Maybe leaving the battery disconnected overnight led to something resetting itself? Anyhow, thanks to everyone who contributed.

 

Weird **** fore sure