Stumped about a no-start

Hey guys,

1967 Mustang, 200ci, T5 manual conversion. Car's been sitting outside for three or so years and then sitting inside for the past year and change. Patched/rebuilt most of the front of the frame, did major suspension work, pulled and modified the steering column, put a rebuilt '78 motor into it, converted it to Duraspark II, and did an Autolite 2100 conversion.

After years and years of the car being apart in an ongoing project, it's finally as of tonight ready to try to start.

However, I can't get it to start! The only sign of life from the thing is the dome light coming on. Not even the headlights come on. If I try to start the car the dome light will shut off and I'll hear the DSII module click, but that's it. No solenoid knock. I've plugged in every harness that was unplugged and I've wracked my brain trying to think of anything I might be missing, but as far as I can tell she's ready to start. If I bypass the solenoid and with the negative from my jump box connected to the terminal and the positive on the battery cable going to the starter, I can get it to spin, but using the key I have nothing.

I've checked with a voltmeter and this is where it gets weird. I feel like I'm missing something simple but I'm pretty burned out on the car now so I need you guys to hold my hand here. I'm getting 12v at the S terminal on the solenoid AT ALL TIMES. I'm also getting 12v at the starter AT ALL TIMES. Why is this, should it be like this, and shouldn't the car be trying to start itself if the starter's getting a constant 12v?

What should I check next? I can't for the life of me think of anything I may have possibly missed and I don't have any wiring diagrams for the old Mustangs. Everything's plugged in under the dash and everything important is plugged in in the engine bay. The last and only thing I can think of is I don't at the moment have an engine-to-chassis ground. Could that affect it so considerably that it could cause this? I also don't have any recollection of where they bolt on on a Mustang... can I get some help there?

Thanks a lot guys, I'd really appreciate some insight here.


Oh, and just in case someone who sees this post and has one but hasn't seen my wanted ad, I'm in desperate need of an early-'67 pitman arm (with a ball joint at one end and a 1" sector shaft hole at the other) in any condition - can't drive the car until I find one.

I had similar issues when I went to start Susie after 5-ish years of sitting.
Long story short, I ended up working on, and/or replacing:
Grounds between starter and frame, everything was coated in Aluminum Oxide
Battery
Ground cables (cable bolts to the passenger side motor mount)
GM HEI module used to fire the DSII system

12V at the starter doesn't sound correct.

8) the cable to the starter should be dead until the solenoid is energized, so you have a bad solenoid for one thing. second pull the battery out and take it to your local parts store and have them load test the battery for you. you may be getting 12v, but you may not be getting any amperage.

Was it originally an auto? has the inhibit circuit been bypassed?

Ds2 modules don't "click". There are no moving parts in there.
I'd agree with checking/replacing solenoid and voltage regulator, as long as the wiring looks good.
There are lots of pics and diagrams on the net, here's one:


On my '78 alternator the only thing the stator wire was used for was a constant 12v to the electric choke.

Car's always been a manual. Used to be a 3.03, converted it to a T5.

Not using a battery, using a jump pack that's always worked perfectly for such a purpose, and shows 13v on its gauge when it's fully charged, and has no problem spinning the starter when I bypass the solenoid.

Going off that diagram, I have everything exactly correct. Though, I'm not even to the point of the DSII being in the picture... I need the starter to spin when I turn the key, first.


I'm going to put a chassis ground on there and if that has zero effect I'm also going to try to jumper the Ignition terminal on the solenoid and see if it triggers.

Why aren't you using a battery?
Jump packs are an inefficient connection, and (unless they are the BIG ones with a couple of batteries in the base), they likely won't have enough juice to get the car running.

I was able to get the engine to turn over fairly easily with a 5+ year old battery that was pretty much completely dead, but once I got everything sorted out properly it wasn't enough to actually fire the engine.

The clicking would probably be a faulty solenoid.
Try replacing with a known good part.

I stupidly left the nearly-new battery in the car as it sat for all these years, and it's toast now. I'm using a jump pack for the time being because it's handy and doesn't cost me $80 for something that's just gonna sit for who knows how long... I can't drive the car until I find an apparently very rare pitman arm. My problem isn't even getting the car running yet. It's getting the starter to even spin - which once I bypass everything, the jump pack has no problem doing.

Anyway, I attached a chassis ground and jumpered the ignition post on the solenoid, which did not hesitate in closing and triggering the starter. So I know the solenoid is good. I also re-checked all my readings at the various posts and now it's reading as it should with the key off: 0v at the starter and ignition posts and 12.7v at the battery post. However, I also have 0v at the ignition post when trying to start the car, so it would appear my major problem is that I'm getting no power from the ignition lead to close the solenoid.

The clicking I heard must've been the voltage regulator. It wasn't a bad solenoid - I'm familiar with that sound, and I'd describe that as more of a knock. I totally forgot about the regulator though. I mounted my DSII box pretty close to it so I mistook the clicking as coming from there. You guys suggest checking the voltage regulator - does the starter circuit run through there? It's clicking when I turn the car to ON, so I at least know it's getting something. How would I go about checking it?


So since I'm getting no power at the ignition wire, time to backtrack until I find where the voltage is shorted... though in my lack of schematics I'm a bit lost... can anyone tell me where to check next in the starter circuit?

Not sure if you stated the year of yours, but some years also have a switch on the clutch pedal that intreups the ingnistion circuit unless you depress the clutch.