so i think my starter died...again

[smallbrady89]

about a month ago (july 9th) i purchased and installed a rebuilt starter for my 92 3.1L lumina. everything went well, the installation was a little tricky but i got it in and it worked well. the car started up nicely every time. until yesterday. i went to the corner store to get some water and when i came back out my car wouldent start. turn the key and hear nothing but the chime. the engine wouldent crank, click or do anything. i got it towed home and today i checked the starter with a multimetre. i did this by touching the red lead to the positive connector on the starter and the black lead to ground. it read 11.2V. im not an expert on electronics but i think that means that power is getting to the starter alright. which leads me to belive my starter is dead.

i would like to know if i tested this correctly and also would like to know what the purple wire does thats also connected to the starter.

[smallbrady89]

ok heres an update. i jumped the solonoid by connecting the ignition termanal (thats the purple wire i was wondering about) to the positive termanal and leaving the key in the running position. and guess what, it started up like a dream. which makes me happy that i dont have to replace a month old starter but also confused because now i still have to find whats wrong with the starting system. my next suspect is the neautral safty switch and my next question is, where is it?

[smallbrady89]

final update: i did some research into the neutral safty switch and found that a symptom of it being shorted out is that the car will only start in neutral. so i tryed that and of course it worked. now im just looking at prices to see if its worth replaceing or if i should just live with it. anyway sorry for answering my own question but at least if others have the same question this may help a bit.

[richtazz]

It could be the switch (or shifter linkage) is out of adjustment. Starting in neutral but not in park is definitely a neutral switch issue so you're on the right track.

[smallbrady89]

ok heres something new. while i was trying to bypass the neutral safty switch i was tugging on some wires and one accidently snapped. so i was like "aw crap" but i went ahead and started the car to see what damage it had done and surprisingly its fixed. the car now starts in park and neutral.

btw the wire was purple.

[richtazz]

Does your car have an aftermarket remote start or alarm system on it? The wire you removed may have been from one of those and was a starter disable/ignition kill when it is armed.

[tblake]

no, but his car does have an aftermarket remote starter installed, maybe you remember the puctures of the relays that have wires soldered directly to them, without any protection over the top, and nothing is taped up. Start There smallbrady, more than likely if you clean up that dirty install all your problems will go away.

[smallbrady89]

i put electrical tape between all of the exposed wire there and then taped the whole thing in a big ball of electrical tape. after cutting the wire it starts fine but i havent driving it anywhere so i dont know. i only have my learners permit so i have to be with a parent. (augest 25th is my big day) so i dont know when i will be able to test it. and richtazz was right. since cutting that wire my remote start is useless. doesent work.