68 Charger- no start issue

[NHCharger]

Starter just clicks, will not engage. Battery is good. Pulled the starter and had it tested, it's still good. Obviously not getting enough juice to the starter.
What should the voltage be at the starter relay when key is on , and when key is in start position?
Will check for any loose connections under dash, have already checked connections in engine bay. Swapped starter relay with my 72 Charger, still the same issue.
Could a bad ignition switch cause this problem?

 

[69L48Z27]

Sounds like a positive or negative cable issue, maybe the battery connectors. Are these original or repop cables?

 

[mopar 3 B]

Ground checked? If the switch activates the relay and selenoid NO.
Starter mian lug should have battery voltage.

 

[Scatpack]

I’m gonna say try a different starter. Bought a new starter that lasted 4 months. Worked fine when I put it in, after a couple of months it would click a few times before it would actually start. 12.9 volts at battery, 12.5 at starter relay and starter. Had it tested, said it was good but I’m sure the tester isn’t putting a load on it like the 440 is. Put it back in, sure ****, after a few starts and days later, it would just click. Exchanged it for another new starter, been good since.

 

[tonysrt]

Did you try jumping the starter relay to see if that gets it cranking? That eliminates a lot of wiring in case you have a problem with ignition switch and firewall connection. To do it take, a screwdriver and jump the wire on the relay that comes from pos. terminal off the battery and jump to screw right below.

 

[PlainfieldCharger]

If the battery has tested good as well as the starter it has to be a connection, ground or wire failure. Most likely a bad engine ground as it sounds to not be getting the amps its needs. Clean the all connections of paint and rust and try again. I have seen repoped positive battery cables lose internal connection in the molded lead of the battery terminal. When the motor did crank(turn over) did you have the crank it allot to get it started?

 

[Bill Monk]

I assume you have a good multimeter, do a voltage drop test and you will find the culprit. I had a NEW repop positive cable that suddenly was dropping to nearly nothing at the starter and it drove me nuts because the cable was only a few months old so I didn't suspect it. Finally did a full drop test on everything and found it
http://www.fme-cat.com/Docs/1519.pdf

 

[NHCharger]

I decided to replace the starter while I had it out. Quite a few times it would just make a clicking sound before finally catching when the engine was hot. I cleaned the battery posts and the two grounds on the engine, still just a click. I have a spare ignition switch so I decided to swap that out. The 68 has the original dash harness that was pretty chewed up when I got it. I spent a week ciphering out all the bad wiring when I restored car. In hindsight I should have bought a new harness.
Anyway the back of the ignition switch plug looked a little funky, I swapped out the ignition switch and now nothing, not even a movement on the amp gauge when I turned key. Put old switch back in, turned key, nothing. Turned key off and sparks started flying out from behind switch. So this may have been part of the problem.
When I restored my Daytona clone I bought a new dash harness. I checked the plug on the old harness (pays to save all your old ****) and the ignition plug looks good. Going to cut that off tomorrow night and splice it in.
Bill- thanks for the diagram on checking for voltage loss.

 

[NHCharger]

update- The positive battery cable was NFG. At this point I was taking a shot in the dark because when I tested voltage at the starter it seemed that the readings were ok.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Got to test under load for voltage drop.

 

[PlainfieldCharger]

update- The positive battery cable was NFG. At this point I was taking a shot in the dark because when I tested voltage at the starter it seemed that the readings were ok.

Its hard to believe that they can go bad....had to find too....Voltage most likely measured fine. It is when you need the amps the problem will rear its ugly head...