lost juice to the starter!

[65BD427r]

I have a Backdraft cobra, less than a 1000 miles on it! Vehicle had been running great, parked it came back out after it had cooled down and tried to restart it and non thing happens, like i had turned off the red switch! I checked to see if i was getting any fire to the starter (main red wire coming from the shut off switch) and wasn't getting any fire! I pulled the cover off the cut off switch and it showed i was getting fire to the wire coming from the battery but non thing going out to the starter! I noticed the nut was a little loose, tightened it and rechecked it and it fired right up! Turned it back off, put everything back together and decided to check it again, click it went dead again! The only thing i can figure is that i've a bad connection or bad shut off switch! I plan to start there tomorrow and first off will probably by pass the switch and wire it directly to my positive side of the battery to see if that works, if so i assume i have a bad switch! Any other suggestions, would be appreciated, thanks. Also i had noticed my starter has been dragging a little when i start it, will probably have it checked out also, possibly needs rebuilt or replaced! The engine in the car is a Roush 427R- 550hp. No other problems, love the car, thanks

[emm427]

After you shut it down, what was clicking the starter? Loose connections and bad ground will make you pull your hair out. Start with the basics. I've read others stating that the ignition switched would go bad, however if your starter is clicking I wouldn't think that was it.

[Tommy]

It sounds like you have a plan. If you do bypass the normal systems, be sure to do it safely so the car doesn't move, and nothing gets caught up in moving parts when the starter turns.

A typical starter is connected to a large cable from the positive terminal of the battery and a ground through a large cable from the negative terminal of the battery to the starter case or the engine nearby. One way to test each of these is to run a jumper cable between each end of a cable. You don't even have to disconnect the existing cables, but its best to do this one cable at a time. If the starter works with the jumper on but not off, you've found the faulty cable.

The other test is to run a jumper from the positive battery terminal and briefly touch it to the solenoid connection that should be energized when the starter switch is engaged. (Don't forget the safety concerns above.) If the starter turns over normally using this method, the problem is somewhere in the starter wiring circuit (i.e., ignition switch, starter switch, wires).

If you try all three of these tests and the starter won't turn normally, I'd suspect the starter/solenoid itself.

[65BD427r]

Been at it for about 6 hours now, have ran pretty much all my options! At this time i have juice to my starter and now to my ignition switch (I've replaced my ignition switch, which only has two wires running to it, 1) One to the battery, 2) One to the ignition)...no ground wire on ignition, don't recall it having one! as soon as i turn the key on, i loose power to the the ignition switch, I probed to see if i had power to other items under the dash that are a constant hot which shows hot, until i turn the key to on position and i loose power to them also! I checked the fuses and fuse relays (starter...etc) and switched the around, made no difference! The only thing i can come up with is a possible grounding issue! I have checked the main engine ground next t the starter, looks good and other grounds, supposedly one next to the floorboard under the fuse box, but haven't found it yet! this is pretty strange, any help appreciated...

[65BD427r]

Found the problem, had a loose ground wire from the negative post on the battery to frame! Corrected problem....lesson learned! Thanks for the help