Another Car Won't Start Thread

[Smrtpunk]

Hey R3v,

I've been in and out of this forum for years (mostly lurking) and have been in the E30 game for quite some time.

I picked up a shell that was caged, but bare and swapped over all components from my other wrecked E30 into this car. I mean everything!

I've come to the point in this build where I am ready to attempt starting the car, but unfortunately, it's not ready to start for me. When I say not ready to start I mean, no cranking when turning the key.

I haven't done a whole lot of troubleshooting on the side of wire diagrams and such, but I have gone over the whole harness to make sure that everything I can see is plugged in to where it should and that all grounding wires are seeing a proper ground. Here's what I can tell you

• I know there's power to the ignition switch and I know when I turn the key to the on position it lights a large gauge green wire.
• I know the DME is getting power as I can hear the IACV making a noise when I turn the key to the on position
• I know the starter works as I can jump it to make it run
• I've remove the check panel from the car and have left the plug with nothing plugged into it.
• The lights in the dash do not turn on. I mean none of them at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If I don't hear from anyone, my next plan is to DL a troubleshooting guide and begin tracing CCT's until I find the reason why the starter won't fire.

Thanks,
Ian

[tomstin]

[*]I know the starter works as I can jump it to make it run

"Jump it" as in jumper cables? Or, jump the starter itself? Does the car start and run after that? Or just the starter turn the engine over?

Also, what year parts did you use? May help to diagnose the wiring.

[MrBurgundy]

check your starter relay

[Smrtpunk]

Ya, I think I'm going to start by checking all the fuses that are involved in the dash/start sequencing and then check the wires that leave the ignition switch to the starter.

[Smrtpunk]

Well, I feel a little silly but I found the issue with the Starter.

There was a wire that connects from the ignition switch to the C101 that was not connected. I traced the start signal from the ignition to the plug under the dash and found that there was no wire connected to it!

I then found out the reason for the instrument cluster not lighting up, you guessed it, burnt fuse! I replaced the fuse and it burnt again right away. I then cleaned up frayed wire and capped every loose wire that was visible under the dash and just like that I had a working instrument cluster.

It's always the small things eh. Thanks to those who chimmed in to help me out.