I have a 79 trans am that I bought in April with a 396 big block chevy swapped into it. I did not do the swap, the guy i bought it from did. It ran when i bought it, it did not drive because it ran like garbage, knocking, pinging, backfiring. So I pulled the motor and trans and rebuilt the engine. Just put it back in a couple weeks ago, hooked everything up, put oil in it, put coolant in it, double and triple checked everything, went to turn the key aaaaand it did absolutely nothing. I checked the battery voltage and it was at 12.6V like it should be, checked all my wiring (which is a nightmare from the guy before me) all the wires go where they should. I repaired what i'm 99% sure is the starter relay wire (it was extended using cheap wal-mart speaker wire twisted and electrical taped together). Put a new starter on it. Looked at wiring diagrams from chiltons manual which are not very good. Played around with testing some wires but didn't change anything around. But it still wont do a damn thing. I'm so frustrated with it right now i can hardly look at the car but i keep going back to it because i want to get it running. Is there anybody who can help me fix this thing? Any detailed wiring diagrams I can look at? Any and all help is appreciated.
74TransAm
Just a thought. There should be a neutral safety switch also. Make sure it is connected. Check the power to the ignition switch and then to the starter.
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I took the relay wire of the starter after I posted this and hooked my power probe to it and hit the key and I got 0 volts at it. The reading on the screen changed from nothing in it at all to 0 volts like it was measuring continuity, but it's supposed to have battery voltage there right? The fuse would be in the fuse block under the dash right? And to get to the nss I have to take the center console out right?
The NSS should be mounted on the shifter mechanism. I don't remember for sure on a 79 but on my 78 I can just remove the screws that holds the shift indicator plate down.
There should be a fuse lageled "IGN" under the dash with the other fuses. Do you get any of the door buzzer or dash lights to come on when you turn the key?
Power from Battery to starter. Purple wire from starter to NSS should have power. Then purple/white wire from NSS to ignition switch. Pink from ignition switch to fuse panel left side of panel maybe 3rd or 4th down from the top.
There should also be a fuseable link coming off of the starter. I would check and make sure that is ok and not burnt.
As a test, I would jumper a 12v hot to the purple wire coming off the starter, with the battery hooked up, and a good starter, the engine should at least turn over. After that it is just a matter of tracing why juice isn't getting to the purple wire when you turn the key. Is the ign. switch bad, maybe the ign switch isn't getting any juice. Does a wire off the ignition switch even "go hot" when you rotate the key to the start position? If you jumper another hot to the + side of the coil (HEI + terminal), when the starter turns over, the motor should fire up.... or at least be making spark. I'd work on getting it to turn over (purple wire), then work on getting it to start (+ HEI wire)
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