No Start issue

On my 83 SN 2001 I can jump my starter over the solenoid but it wont crank with the key. I just replaced the ignition switch and swapped wire for terminal. With the key in the on position I get juice at the small middle connection but turning the key changes nothing at either of the two small wire connections. Does anyone know the proper way to check my Solenoid?

KingofPaint wrote: On my 83 SN 2001 I can jump my starter over the solenoid but it wont crank with the key. I just replaced the ignition switch and swapped wire for terminal. With the key in the on position I get juice at the small middle connection but turning the key changes nothing at either of the two small wire connections. Does anyone know the proper way to check my Solenoid?

How are you with wiring diagrams?

It's hard to figure out what you're saying up above about small middle connections and then 2 small wire connections and where they are.

You can follow the diagram and find the flow path to get power to the key switch and then back to the solenoid.

You'll notice that there's a neutral safety switch in that path from the key to the solenoid, so if your shifter isn't in neutral you won't get power to the solenoid or if you have a defective or misadjusted switch you won't get power to the solenoid even with the shifter in neutral.

Are you sure the key switch is wired right?. The connections on it should be labeled "B", "I," and "S"
B   red wire with incoming 12 volts hooks here and always has power
I    purple wire going to coil hooks here and has power in RUN or START
S   yellow/red wire ( might be a white wire) to solenoid goes here and only has power in START and sends power to the solenoid.

Did you jump the solenoid by jumpering across the 2 big terminals "A" and "B" in the diagram or from the "A" terminal to the small "s" terminal? If you did it the second way, then the solenoid is good since you said it would crank. Going across the 2 big terminals just bypasses the solenoid completely.

If you didn't do it the second way, try it that way to test the solenoid or you could check it with an ohmmeter like Pete mentioned earlier



Diagram courtesy of TRBenj

Glad it was an easy and cheap fix.

Are you familiar with the single lever throttle control and how it works or in other words do you know what the knob in front of the throttle lever is for?