89 Delta Royale starting problem

[tycorlee]

My son has an 88 Olds Delta Royale. The car will not start. When he tries to start the engine, all you hear is a click from the starter. We pulled the original starter, had the new starter bench tested before we installed it (it passed), the battery is good (less than 6 months old), and the starter switch assembly on the steering column is new. Tried running a wire from the positive lead on the starter to the positive lead on the batery. I got a spark, so that seems to indicate that we have power going to the starter, but we got the same result when we try to start it. This has happened 3-4 times in the past 6 months, but it always managed to start after a few tries (once after I rapped on the side of the old starter thinking it was a contact issue within the starter).

Any ideas on what to look at next would be appreciated.

Jim

 

[purplexj]

Seems like you checked everything already. Except the cables, how do they look. Does wiggling them help.

 

[tycorlee]

Wires look good. Had my son clean and lightly sand them to remove any surface corrosion. Was wondering if Neutral Safety/Start awitch might be the problem?

 

[purplexj]

Could be but would you hear any clicking ? Normally it would be quiet. Kind like a car w/o a battery. Would any sesor cause this ?