95 sc2 Auto to standard swap problems

[Dpickens]

I recently started an auto to standard swap on my 95 SC2. long story short I finished it up yesterday, and it wont even crank when I turn the key.... I checked everything and its fine, I crawled under and I used a screwdriver to jump the terminals on the starter and it gets juice, however it just sounds like its spinning in the soliniod. so I have 2 problems. Why is there no juice running to the starter when I use my key and when it gets juice why is it not engaging the flywheel? oh I have the ECU from the donor car (same year, and same options except it being a 5 sp) and my starter was working perfectly before the swap, is there some sort of clutch switch I have to install? or is there a way to bypass? or did I miss a connection? sorry for this long post

[PurdueGuy]

Solenoids don't spin, they click. Did you take care of the neutral safety switch wiring (aka stick a fuse in the harness)? (While we're asking wiring questions, did you wire up the reverse lights? Those are the 2 electrical bits to take care of, aside from the PCM.)

[Dpickens]

Originally Posted by PurdueGuy

Solenoids don't spin, they click. Did you take care of the neutral safety switch wiring (aka stick a fuse in the harness)? (While we're asking wiring questions, did you wire up the reverse lights? Those are the 2 electrical bits to take care of, aside from the PCM.)

neutral safety switch? witch wire is that one and where is it coming from? and how do i wire up the reverse lights?

[PurdueGuy]

I'm assuming you kept the auto's wiring harness under the hood?

[Dpickens]

yes I did... I hope that isnt bad.......

[Gold Saturn]

Originally Posted by Dpickens

yes I did... I hope that isnt bad.......

This is exactly what you need to do:



You might not have the connector that goes to the reverse switch (did you get a donor car or did you buy these parts seperately?), that can be sourced and spliced in easily enough later. It's the brown connector in the pic.

Anyways, the connector with the 2 purple wires....Jam a 30 amp fuse in there just like the pic shows and either zip tie it in or cover the whole thing with electrical tape, or both. You should be golden after that. That connector attaches to the neutral safety switch on your automatic transmission. That switch only gets continuity in either neutral or park (I think...) and will not allow the car to start if there's no continuity i.e. in gear. Keep in mind you can also hook the wires up to the clutch pedal safety switch if you wanna do that (Car won't start unless clutch pedal is depressed) but if you just put the fuse in there the car will start no matter what (Just make sure you're in neutral or your clutch pedal is in...I've forgotten about that one a few times myself...but the car only lurches forward enough to embarrass me but not damage anything.

[Dpickens]

Originally Posted by Gold Saturn

This is exactly what you need to do:



You might not have the connector that goes to the reverse switch (did you get a donor car or did you buy these parts seperately?), that can be sourced and spliced in easily enough later. It's the brown connector in the pic.

Anyways, the connector with the 2 purple wires....Jam a 30 amp fuse in there just like the pic shows and either zip tie it in or cover the whole thing with electrical tape, or both. You should be golden after that. That connector attaches to the neutral safety switch on your automatic transmission. That switch only gets continuity in either neutral or park (I think...) and will not allow the car to start if there's no continuity i.e. in gear. Keep in mind you can also hook the wires up to the clutch pedal safety switch if you wanna do that (Car won't start unless clutch pedal is depressed) but if you just put the fuse in there the car will start no matter what (Just make sure you're in neutral or your clutch pedal is in...I've forgotten about that one a few times myself...but the car only lurches forward enough to embarrass me but not damage anything.

I didn't get a donor car, I bought the parts off of a guy parting out a SW2 and the car is long gone.
Now I still had the problem when I jump the starter... any ideas? or will installing that fuse solve the problem also? because when I use a screwdriver to test it, the starter will spin but not engage the flywheel

[fetchitfido]

Sounds like a bad starter being masked by the lack of a fuse in the neutral safety switch plug.

[Dpickens]

Originally Posted by fetchitfido

Sounds like a bad starter being masked by the lack of a fuse in the neutral safety switch plug.

The starter worked fine before the swap... It would be my luck that it quits while I'm working on it

[Gold Saturn]

Originally Posted by Dpickens

The starter worked fine before the swap... It would be my luck that it quits while I'm working on it

Stupid question but are the teeth meshed with the flywheel? If they are then yeah your starter must be busted....

[ssicarman]

Which termminals are you jumping on the starter?
To test it you should be going from the larger red wire to the smaller purple wire (on the solenoid). This should cause the starter to crank the engine. If you go from the larger red wire to the larger wire out of the solenoid to the starter motor you will only get the starter motor spinning.

[madpogue]

You did remove the flexplate from the engine and replaced it with a flywheel, right?

[Dpickens]

Originally Posted by madpogue

You did remove the flexplate from the engine and replaced it with a flywheel, right?

I figured it out.... as soon as I put the fuse in, it fired right up. but thanks for all the help on this guys... SHE LIVES AGAIN!!!!!!

[Gold Saturn]

Originally Posted by Dpickens

I figured it out.... as soon as I put the fuse in, it fired right up. but thanks for all the help on this guys... SHE LIVES AGAIN!!!!!!

Nice, good to know it wasn't anything serious.

Unless there's some good junkyards around your area OR if you can find this on ebay instead here's the part number for the pigtail that plugs into the reverse light switch on top of your transmission that you can splice into your auto harness like shown above so you can get your reverse lights working.

P/N 12085485 for the connector pigtail. It's about $15, rather expensive for a connector, but here in CT we don't really have the luxury of Pick N' Pulls, so I'm usually forced to purchase stuff new...