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I recently had a problem where my starter went dead on me - and would not even click when you try and start it (The click sound is the solenoid-switch engaging).
All my accessories worked fine too. Jump-starting the car didn't make a difference. I opened up the starter and solenoid, cleaned it out thoroughly, regreased it and put it back in. Same problem. I finally located the source of the problem: a bad ground connection from the battery to the engine.
A quick way to verify that you dont have a similar problem would be to connect the negative-cable of a jumper-wire set from the NEG terminal of your battery to the body of your starter (you could clip the crocodile clip on the top bolt of the pair that holds the starter to the engine bell-housing). See if this makes a difference.
If this still dosn't work, you could test to see if your solenoid is the problem. You dont need to remove the starter from the car to do this. BUT MAKE SURE THE KEYS ARE OFF THE IGNITION, GEAR LEVER IS IN PARK AND THE HANDBRAKE ENGAGED BEFORE YOU TRY THIS !
The solenoid-switch is mounted on top of your starter. You will see 1 fat red wire going to one terminal (attached with a large nut). This is tha always-hot Positive conection (A) from the battery. Below that terminal you will find another similar terminal with a nut (B). The only wire attached to this one come from the starter-motor.
If you short A and B (you will need something thick like a stubby-screwdriver - as we're talking HUGE amps here) the starter should turn. Will give you a heck of a start too. AGAIN - MAKE SURE THE KEYS ARE OFF THE IGNITION, GEAR LEVER IS IN PARK AND THE HANDBRAKE ENGAGED BEFORE YOU TRY THIS ! This method totally bypasses the neutral-switch on your gear-shift, which means if your car is in gear and you try this, you could easily get run over !!! If your keys are in the ignition and switched on, the car could start too.
If this method causes the starter to crank better than when you try it with the ignition-switch, then you likely have a problem with the contacts in your solenoid-switch.
Hope this helps.
Noel
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