98 JDM Engine Swap wont start

[Gho5t5niper]

Hey guys I drove through some questionably deep water about a year ago and threw a rod in my 240k mile 1998 5vzfe. For the last year we have been working on it and we bought a JDM engine with said to be low mileage. Put everything together and finally tried to start it last night and the relays all seemed to click but the starter made no noise at all. It is a brand new starter. Battery is good. All the grounds are where they are suppose to be. We can hear clicking coming from a relay near the battery and a relay on the passenger side. Could this be Neutral Safety Switch? If so how do you get to it and check and see if its good? What else could it be? Thanks in advance!

 

[scrap metal]

Did you hook up the tiny little signal wire to the starter?

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Did you hook up the tiny little signal wire to the starter?

Yes it is hooked up. Wont start in park or neutral. Can hear the relays clicking still when key is turned

 

[Doc2012]

Bad connection or battery.

If the relay clicks, it's not getting enough power to the starter.

Something isn't connected somewhere, or the battery is bad or a bad connection.

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Bad connection or battery.

If the relay clicks, it's not getting enough power to the starter.

Something isn't connected somewhere, or the battery is bad or a bad connection.

Ok sounds good ill start to try and narrow the connections down. I also forgot to mention i have an aftermarket alarm system. I dont know if that would be preventing this or not. Its a clifford alarm system thats about the extent of what I know about it. Was installed when i bought it.

 

[Kenworth]

Take a test light to trigger wire on starter have some turn key,if no power start checking fuses , if you want turn key on and take a jumper wire from battery to starter post see if motor cranks that eliminates bad starter.good luck

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Take a test light to trigger wire on starter have some turn key,if no power start checking fuses , if you want turn key on and take a jumper wire from battery to starter post see if motor cranks that eliminates bad starter.good luck

I will do this to make 100% sure but this is a literally brand new starter. It hasnt even started the car yet

 

[Kenworth]

The clicking you talk of seems like a dead battery or poor ground or positive connection ?

 

[Kenworth]

I'd jump starter with a hot wire to battery to make sure starter turns new parts today suck could be bad ?

 

[Gho5t5niper]

The clicking you talk of seems like a dead battery or poor ground or positive connection ?

The battery is fully charged with 12 volts and ran in my jeep just fine. Getting ready to check the grounds though. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[scrap metal]

Have you checked if there is a "hidden" reset button to your alarm.

Is there a brake switch on the autos? I forgot

 

[Kenworth]

Lol no I just went to garage reached thru open window and started so brake need not be applied to start

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Have you checked if there is a "hidden" reset button to your alarm.

Is there a brake switch on the autos? I forgot

Yeah we tried to reset the alarm. No luck. Although im not 100% sure it was the right procedure we took to reset the alarm because I cant tell exactly what model the alarm is. All i know is it is clifford brand.

 

[BlackCat914]

The battery is fully charged with 12 volts and ran in my jeep just fine. Getting ready to check the grounds though. Thank you for the feedback!

Volts don't start a car, amps do.

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Just tested the starter using jumper cables and is fine but we tested the ignition wire going to the starter and it isnt getting any ignition power to the starter. So im not sure what this means.. Could my aftermarket alarm system be screwing everything up? What else?

 

[riverview]

yes your aftermarket security could be causing your problem.

 

[Gho5t5niper]

Ok so just narrowed it down to either the neutral safety switch or the alarm system. I'm leaning more toward the alarm system. I wish i knew something about it though... ontop of the steering column it says clifford around a light that blinks when security system is on and it says vs5000-v5 up on the dash by the vin with more security lights. Looked up that and cant find much on it. Anybody know how to reset it? Anybody had any experience with clifford security systems?

 

[TheDurk]

Just tested the starter using jumper cables and is fine but we tested the ignition wire going to the starter and it isnt getting any ignition power to the starter. So im not sure what this means.. Could my aftermarket alarm system be screwing everything up? What else?

Alarm circuit is always prime suspect.

Also:

30A AM2 fuse (this was cause on a recent engine swap I helped with. This is big fuse you can't check visually)
40A AM1 fuse (likewise)
EFI relay
Starter relay
10A IGN fuse
7.5A STA fuse
Circuit Opening relay
Key switch
Park/neutral switch

That's off the top of my head. There is probably more. Time to get in there and chase it down, double checking all those listed fuses first--with a light or meter, NOT visually--then checking voltage at key switch and starter relay after that.

 

[pluton]

Worst case scenario if it's the alarm--Have an alarm place remove it for $50.

 

[Kenworth]

So you got engine to crank? Did you get it to start? How wet did you get this trk
When you ruined engine? Maybe some other electrical component has failed,time to get wiring diagram and start working thru it