I finally started up my '68 for the 1st time in 2 years. Rebuilt the motor, ran new wiring harness throughout car and installed a new ignition switch. Tried to start the car with the key. buzzing came on (like i think it should) but started did not. Checked voltage across the terminals on the starter. 12 volts with key in or out. Ran a bypass trigger switch across the starter terminals and the engine fired up beautifully and is idling pretty well. Running HEI distributor. Wiring harness was ordered specifically for HEI.
Did the starter turn and the engine did not fire or did the starter not engage at all? The starter circuit goes through the neutral safety switch, if the NS switch doesn't close the starter won't engage. What year is the car? Hook a multimeter or a test light to the s terminal on the solenoid and see if there is 12 volts to the s terminal when the ignition switch is in the start position. Seems to be a lot of posts concerning starter not engaging with new harnesses lately.
Al, thanks for the response. The starter does not even turn with the key. The car is a '68. I checked the voltage and it reads 12v across the terminals on the starter with the key out and with the key in and turned to start position.
You talked about a neutral safety switch. I don't think I have one of those and am not sure where it would connect to. I have a 5sp manual tranny. Would there be a switch on the clutch pedal?
What wire harness did you use? My 68 American wire harness was setup to use a neutral safty switch which 68 did not use. I put in a jumper wire in the socket. Trace the heavy gage wire coming from the ignition switch and see if you have a socket for a male plug. I cannot remember the color. The socket was black and was right under the steering wheel.
You may be reading the voltage from the starter cable when you check across the two terminals. Remove the heavy purple wire from the starter solenoid S terminal and connect a voltmeter from the wire to a known ground or the negative terminal of the battery. It should show zero volts with the key off and battery voltage [+12 V] with the key in the start position. If you have no voltage at the purple wire with the key on start you'll have to backtrack that circuit. You can check if you have 12 volts coming out of the S terminal of the ignition switch. The start connector of the starter will be marked S or START or SOL for starter solenoid. Juice flows from the switch to the neutral safety switch through a purple and white wire and from the safety switch to the firewall connector through a purple wire, then from the firewall connector block to the starter through a purple wire. I thought the neutral safety switch was on the shifter of the Muncie four speeds but don't know for sure. There are column and floor shifters, auto and standards so there could be various ways of wiring. It could be a clutch switch as well, my GTO was that way. If you have a Tremec five speed overdrive the neutral safety switch is internal, the start circuit is connected to the two terminals of the switch on the upper left side of the transmission tailhousing. It's a normally open switch that is only closed when the transmission is in neutral to prevent the car being started in gear.
This sounds like a ground issue... engine was put back in and new harness installed correct ? Usually larger problems are easier fixes that just get overlooked. Is the engine grounded?
Thanks to everyone for your input and output. As suggested above, it turns out that my harness does have a socket for a neutral safety switch. I shorted the socket and the key starts the motor perfectly now. I am running a Borg Warner T5 transmission and am not aware of any neutral safety switch there. Maybe there is some way to hook it to my clutch pedal so that the car only starts with the clutch depressed.
I just keep a jumper wire in mine. 69 had a safety switch on the clutch. Ive seen the bracket and switch for sale on eBay and it may fit the clutch pedal with out altering it but not sure.
Chances are you have one on your T-5. They've been making T-5s for over 30 years and have hundreds of variations some like the SN-95 mustang t5 didn't but others did. I don't know if the switches were always in the same place on different castings. I've heard tell the tko and the t5 use the same switch with different part numbers. TKO 2606244. t5 13001400004/E6ZZ7A247A. Part of the t5 number could be for the stainless pin under the switch. Some use the switch for the cruise control, don't know how. There was also a 5th gear sensing switch, with computer cars I would imagine