This can't be good...

[Disturbeds10]

I replaced the starter today, and got everything hooked back up exactly how I removed it, and I got nothing. No click, thunk, or thud. Battery is fully charged, 13.4 volts. All my lights work, heater works, and the radio works. So Upon plundering under the hood I came across this. Doesn't look right to me with all that gunk up under it running down the inner fender!



I did upgrade to a 1990 model starter, but that couldn't be a problem?!? Bolted right up, its just smaller and more tq. Has the same 2 wire hookup.



I can't find my test light anywhere....Off to autozone in teh morning I guess :-(

[712edf]

Neither of those 2 things you have pictured involve whether or not the starter will work. They will keep the engine from firing though. The white ceramic thing is a ballast resistor (kinda cheap so go ahead & buy a spare). The other thing is the ECU. It runs about $50 or more and must make a good metal to metal ground connection with the fender in order to function....If your not getting power to the starter check wire connection at firewall,starter relay,ignition switch, neutral safety switch (automatics). Are you able to jump the starter at the relay or solenoid? From the look of your pics the wiring on this truck appear to be highly corroded. Dodges have alot of wiring issues and everything needs a good ground.

[712edf]

I'm assuming that you had them test the new starter at the parts store before you took it home. I've bought nice & neatly packaged "new" junk before..

[Disturbeds10]

I'll go ahead and replace those, and pick up a ballast resistor and a spare. What about the piece on the inner fender? I'm trying to find some new wiring harnesses, before I go and use my nice americanautowire.com harness that came out of my s-10. I'm going to try and bypass all the OE wiring with a Moroso switch panel I have this week, just to see if I can get it to fire. So far I have replaced the following: starter, plug wires, carb, battery cable from teh starter to the inner fender thing, from that to teh battery, and the ign wire to that inner fender thing...what is it called? Thanks, Matt

[Disturbeds10]

I'm assuming that you had them test the new starter at the parts store before you took it home. I've bought nice & neatly packaged "new" junk before..

No....





but I will yank it and get it checked in the morning. Dang I'ma feel dumb if thats part of the problem!

[74w300uteline]

molasses

my trucks have the same molasses stuff and they start and run fine. I always wondered what it was.

[712edf]

my trucks have the same molasses stuff and they start and run fine. I always wondered what it was.

I think its something they put inside the ECU to protect the circuitry from moisture/vibration. Flourescent lights have a component called a ballast that has a similar molasses stuff in it...I guess heat makes it ooze out.

[712edf]

I believe the inner fender thing you are refering to is the starter relay. It connects the positive post of the battery to the starter. The ignition switch has a wire the runs to it. Also a ground wire from the neutral safety switch on the transmission connects there on one of the lower posts. What year vehicle are you dealing with here? If you can get the starter to crank, run a jumper wire from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil. It should fire. Beware that you must disconnect that jumper wire to kill the motor should it start. This is how they "hotwired" things back in the day. Don't leave it hooked up but for a few seconds, its not good on the coil/ignition.

[n1265]

The thing leaking on the fender is the ECU This is not the reason the starter does not crank because it does not control it.

[Disturbeds10]

I believe the inner fender thing you are refering to is the starter relay. It connects the positive post of the battery to the starter. The ignition switch has a wire the runs to it. Also a ground wire from the neutral safety switch on the transmission connects there on one of the lower posts. What year vehicle are you dealing with here? If you can get the starter to crank, run a jumper wire from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil. It should fire. Beware that you must disconnect that jumper wire to kill the motor should it start. This is how they "hotwired" things back in the day. Don't leave it hooked up but for a few seconds, its not good on the coil/ignition.

Yes that is what Im referring to. I dont have a neutral saftey switch. I found that out accidently right after I got the truck. Cant I just bypass it and use the pushbutton switch on my switch panel to get around it? It is a 1974 W200 360. The relay has the positive cable from the battery to one large stud, and the cable from there to the starter. The small center stud has a 10 ga wire to the small stud on the starter. and then there is a orange wire clipped to the top of the relay. there is also a 14 ga fuseable link on the lower large stud, but its been cut and replaced going somewhere else in the harness. Im going to try to remove the tape without trashing the wires. A few so far have cracked right in half on me

[712edf]

Try grounding that 14 gauge wire first. The neutral safety switch is whats supposed to provide a ground circuit (only in Park/Neutral) through that wire to the relay....Yes you can do away with neutral safety switch and the relay and still get it to start. Leave the large cables from battery to relay to starter intact. Run a wire from + side of battery to your push button, then another wire from your push button to the small terminal on the starter. Seems like you need around 8 gauge wire for this,maybe heavier.And use a heavy-duty push button, not one of those cheapy's that everybody puts on their horn.....Without the neutral safety switch gone it will crank in any gear & no back-up lights!

[Disturbeds10]

Try grounding that 14 gauge wire first. The neutral safety switch is whats supposed to provide a ground circuit (only in Park/Neutral) through that wire to the relay....Yes you can do away with neutral safety switch and the relay and still get it to start. Leave the large cables from battery to relay to starter intact. Run a wire from + side of battery to your push button, then another wire from your push button to the small terminal on the starter. Seems like you need around 8 gauge wire for this,maybe heavier.And use a heavy-duty push button, not one of those cheapy's that everybody puts on their horn.....Without the neutral safety switch gone it will crank in any gear & no back-up lights!

I already have no backup lights, I'm going to run some small driving lights off the rear bumper wired to a toggle switch. The cranking in gear thing scared me a little, but I just leave it in neutral now with the parking brake on and a tire chock infront of both rear tires. I tried grounding that fuseable link and it did nothing. I am about to go play with the switch panel after dinner. I have 10 ga from one side of the push button switch to the small stud on the starter, and 10 ga from the battery to the switch. I also have a 12 ga lead from the + side of the coil to a toggle switch drawing power from the battery through a 20 Amp fuse. Figure something has to trigger the coil as it doesn't have 12V to it at all times right? I figure that will be my "saftey switch" since the OE neutral switch is non functional. Also have the 4 ga battery cables linked together and wrapped up with electrical tape as a temp fix to keep sparks to a minimum :-) If it works I will run all new 2 or 4 ga cable straight from the battery to the starter.

[712edf]

I probably wasn't clear when I said ground the 14 gauge wire. What I meant for you to ground was the post on the starter relay that the wire goes to. This post should have a "G" beside it. What you've described doing should get the engine to crank/fire....The coil only need 12 volts to it while cranking, the rest of the time voltage is run to it through the ballast resistor & brought down to 7-9 volts....The wire that's meant to go to the neutral safety switch is a 18 gauge dark green wire with white strip...The 14 gauge wire (red) with fusible link goes to the ammeter in the dash....sorry about the mix-up,one day I'll get a camera and show what I'm unable to verbalize.

[Disturbeds10]

I probably wasn't clear when I said ground the 14 gauge wire. What I meant for you to ground was the post on the starter relay that the wire goes to. This post should have a "G" beside it. What you've described doing should get the engine to crank/fire....The coil only need 12 volts to it while cranking, the rest of the time voltage is run to it through the ballast resistor & brought down to 7-9 volts....The wire that's meant to go to the neutral safety switch is a 18 gauge dark green wire with white strip...The 14 gauge wire (red) with fusible link goes to the ammeter in the dash....sorry about the mix-up,one day I'll get a camera and show what I'm unable to verbalize.

Its ok. my starter relay is so badly rusted I cant make out anything on it. So when I switch on the full 12v to the coil, once it fires I can switch that off and the resistor will still give the 7-9 volts? Or should I just leave the switch on? I have the switch panel almost wired temp under the hood. Once everything is fine and she'll crank without issue I will be moving it to to the dash for good. And for the ammeter, I should leave that off to avoid any dash fires right? I have a full set of Autometer Ultralite II gauges that were for the S10. Might as well steal those too! The dodge fuel level sending unit is not working, but I stole the 2 fuel cells from the S10 too. RCI 22 and 17gallon with sending unit. I almost feel bad for taking everything from the S10 lol. Will a 78ish gauge cluster surround work on my 74 dash? Thanks for the help so far

[Disturbeds10]

I think its something they put inside the ECU to protect the circuitry from moisture/vibration. Flourescent lights have a component called a ballast that has a similar molasses stuff in it...I guess heat makes it ooze out.

A older guy at the parts store told me his old Ford did the same thing, and it ran like that for years. All the years cranking finally overheated it though after it all oozed out. Thankfully my wife just bought me a MSD pro billet distributor for my 440 I'm building. I have a brand new Digital 6 Plus MSD box sitting here for from the S10. I swear its like plunder and pillage all the nice go fast goodies from that poor truck! . I might just swap it for a distributor for the 360 since it doesnt look like the 440 will be done any time soon.