I purchased a 67 olds 442 project. I put a new battery, starter & soldnoid, ignition coil, and ignition switch because the key in the car was not right. I can hot wire it by running a jumper from positive battery to positive ignition coil and purple wire on starter relay to the the battery. When I turn the ignition key I get power as lights etc work however it will not engage starter. I have double check and all wiring is correct. Any help hints etc would be helpful.Fuses?I did check the fuse at the starter rely and it was good. I do not know but any help appreciated as I am stumped.

 

There is no fuse for the starter, and there is no starter relay on a '67 Olds.

Maybe we should see some pictures, to see whether everything is set up as original, or has been modified.

Bottom line: It sounds like you need to go through systematically and trace the circuit until you find the problem.

One question: Do you seem to get a big draw when you turn the switch to Start (lights dim, etc), but no starter action? If so, it is possible that you've got too much resistance in multiple sites, allowing current to flow through the solenoid, but not enough to pull it in (this is a hair-puller-outer when it occurs).

- Eric

 

It is the rely mounted on the driver inner fender that the starter wire, battery wire, and horn I believe and has a fuse holder attached to it.Could it be an accessory 15 amp fuse in the fuse box?

 

I don't think there's a fuse in this bock, just a contact point for several hot wires. Are all the contacts clean? Any corroded wires?

OK... going in a different direction. How about the neutral safety switch? That should be located on the steering column down near the floorboard. If it's not adjusted right it would keep the starter from engaging. John

 

I started my 72 cutlass for over a year ,in reverse with foot on the brake .because I was to cheap to buy the safety n switch. when I was younger now ,I look back and it really was a cheap and easy fix !

 

Yah my 1st thought was NSS
Column shift or console?

NSS in c/s cars is atop the steering column near the floor. Console for '67 is probably in the console but still hooks to the wires near the sterering column.

This would be 2 adjacent fat purple wires. With a helper or perhaps a seat belt buzzer used as a voltage detector, make sure that, when the ign sw is in the START position,

1) 12V leaves the ign sw at purple
2) 12V enters and leaves the NSS
3) 12V enters and leaves the NSS purple wires at the steering column
4) 12V appears at the underhood junction of the purple wire
5) 12V gets to the starter "S" terminal [the wires may be reversed at the solenoid]

You may elect to start at #4 above as that will quickly separate the issue into "inside the car or its feed" vs. "here down to the starter and thence to ground." It appears you have done this already, by "hotwiring."

Otherwise, I would add:

ONE more thing- is your starter fwd end brace installed? That IS NOT just a brace, it's a ground strap and a torque strap, and should not be left off. That one got me for a while once- I had poor connection from starter body [coils] to nose piece, thus no connection to ground. Starter bench tested perfectly, yet refused to operate in the vehicle.

You can verify a poor ground by getting 12V to the starter, like it's "ON" but it's not spinning the engine... and a voltmeter with + lead on starter round body bare metal and - lead on battery - will show a voltage drop of about 12V... of course, the starter body and the battery - terminal [not the cable near the battery, or the cable connector, but the post coming out of the battery] SHOULD BE connected directly together and so should never have more than oh say 0.5-1.0V drop, due to the natural resistance of the 3 or 4 connections between the two.

 

That's your horn relay.

I can't guess about the fuse - if you've got A/C there should be a 30A fuse in a fuseholder connected to that relay, but it's usually over a foot away.

- Eric

 

X2 as stated above, double check the wires on the starter solenoid, and then trace your purple wire back through the neutral safety switch.

 

Thanks for all the help. The issue was the Neutral Safety Switch.