97 regal Starter issues

[spliceman]

My 97 Regal would not start, a friend suggested to bang on the starter to see if it did not retract. I did this and i heard what sounded like the retraction. I tried to start the car again, I could hear the starter engage, but still no start. I banged on the starter again and again the retraction. I changed out the starter/solenoid combo and now I dont here the starter engage. I connected the s terminal to pos and touched the outside of the starter and it worked. I thought i saw that the violet wire that went to the s terminal was always hot, when I put a meter on it it was dead, any advise?