86 Z31 Won't Engage Starter

[Austenp405]

I have an 86 that I just bought. It is a non-turbo with a manual transmission, no anti-theft system. This morning the car would not crank, though the battery had plenty of juice. All the accessories would turn off like normal when the key was turned. I was able to get the car to start by crawling under it and jumping the terminals on the starter and the solenoid, so it's not the starter itself.

At this point my best guess is the clutch switch though it is at least functioning visually. Is there something else I am missing that could be causing it not to kick the starter on?

 

Thanks,

Austen

[wthorne]

starter relay under the hood or either the clutch switch under the pedal. you can bypass the clutch switch.

[Austenp405]

starter relay under the hood or either the clutch switch under the pedal. you can bypass the clutch switch.

Thanks. I unplugged the clutch switch and tested it. It seems to be working good. The starter relay is also good. The only other thing I can think of is the ignition switch itself. I am going to rig up a push button starter (Rice, rice, baby....) and go with that since it starts fine when a signal is applied to the starter.

[Mutant-Z]

When I had this problem a few years ago it was because of a rubber bumper on myclutch pedal that ignited an electrical connection to my starter.