72 challenger wont start

[jimynick]

With a good battery and good starter, when you short the relay terminals, than engine should crank till you remove the screwdriver. What do you mean it lasted less than a second? Make sure both ends of all battery cables are tight.

AND clean, both power and grounds

[drambo136]

With a good battery and good starter, when you short the relay terminals, than engine should crank till you remove the screwdriver. What do you mean it lasted less than a second? Make sure both ends of all battery cables are tight.

the old battery was def bad but not the problem. I can continually crank the engine by jumping the leads

you are losing major voltage somewhere if you have 10v in the run circuit & 12v in the start position to the starter relay . start checking connections & the base of the column & bulkhead , you should be getting battery voltage everywhere

Ok, looks like this is going to suck because i def dont have battery voltage everywhere. I'll make a diagram

[drambo136]

I hope this makes sense the way i made it. I wasnt able to test the bulkhead connectors when turning key, because i didnt have an extra set of hands to help. I didnt wanna jam the multimeter in the connector and risk breaking it.

[ShelbyDogg]

You have 2 small wires on the starter relay. If the yellow one has power when holding the key to the start  position, then the other one isn't getting ground through the neutral start switch.  Ground this terminal and see if the relay clicks. If it does then follow the brown wire all the way to the trans and check the switch with a test light.

You need power and ground to make the relay close.

[Chryco Psycho]

Start tracing the power circuit from the battery to the start relay through the fusable link into the bulkhead connector , in & out of the ign switch , inot the fuse block & ammeter connections & see where you lose power

[drambo136]

You have 2 small wires on the starter relay. If the yellow one has power when holding the key to the start  position, then the other one isn't getting ground through the neutral start switch.  Ground this terminal and see if the relay clicks. If it does then follow the brown wire all the way to the trans and check the switch with a test light.

You need power and ground to make the relay close.

HA That was it. The neutral safety switch connector was a little worn out. I made the connector a little tighter and she started right up!

Thank you!

[Chryco Psycho]