Hello everyone! This is my first post here so thank you in advance for any and all assistance and I am looking to becoming a supporting member of this forum.

I am in the process of reviving a 1982 Stingray Corvette (CE) that was given to me by a family member. This is not my first car project by any means but it is my first Corvette, and Chevrolet for that matter. It has been parked for awhile and I have finally got to the point where I am trying to get it to fire up.

So, the battery in the car is pretty old and barely holds a charge so I have it jumped over to my other car parked right next to it (with a similar battery size, a little bit smaller though). I get clicking but no start. I can hear it try to turn the engine over but it just clicks and clicks. My first thought is that there isn't enough juice to accomplishing turning the engine over. So, I switched over to my engine start/battery charger and hooked it to the 82's battery. It still only clicked. After a few more tries, the clicking stopped and now I turn the key and there's nothing. I crawled under the passenger side engine compartment to inspect the starter and see what type of voltage I read. By the way, I have since bought the car it's own, brand new battery.

Upon immediate inspection I find a couple of loose plugs/wires. One is a two wire (Black and Blue, maybe 14 gauge plug) and the other is a single wire (Black, I think, that looks as if it has a screw receptor on it).

Pictures of these plugs have been attached to this post. I have no idea what these could be so any input is greatly appreciated.

On the starter solenoid I can see the larger terminal with the large batt + and the two red wires connected to it. On the engine side of the solenoid I see a smaller single wire terminal which looks to be tannish in color (could be purple?). There is also another terminal opposite of this terminal (outboard side) that has nothing connected to it. Does this connect to anything?

I have attached a photo of my starter solenoid connection interface. Please forgive the blurriness... I was having a hard time taking the photo on the ground.

I measure continuity of the larger terminal to batt + but no voltage across upon turning the key. So, what are the other two terminals and what type of readings should i get?

This is my main concern. If I knew how many terminals I should be utilizing and what types of voltages I should be reading at them then I could be better off for diagnosing. Also, knowing what those two "mystery" plugs are would be a must also!

I apologize for the length of my first post but again I appreciate any and all input.

P.S. I have also noticed that the interior lights stay on at all times when the battery is connected....I'm guessing this is a short somewhere... any common areas to look?

Again, Thank you and I look forward to all of your replies.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Are you saying that you have 12V at the solenoid until you turn the key to Start and it goes to zero? If that's the case then you have a bad connection in that 12V line between the solenoid and the battery or the starter is shorting to ground.

Can't help you on the two connections you pictured. Maybe someone w/ an '82 can chime in. Suspect they might be emissions related. Does the car seem to have the original emissions hardware like cat convertor, etc?

 

With a good bat, you should have power at all times to the large terminal with the two smaller wires. Be sure bat terminals and both ends of the large cable are clean and connected tightly.

Often times extra connectors are found due to the fact that they make the same loom of wiring for several dif applications. Weather it's an auto or manual, AC or no, and more
options. Keep them in the back or your mind, but let's get 'er started first, eh? ; )

Parked for a while? How long is "awhile"?
No sence in trying to start with bad gas, 'cause it won't.
Better figure on draining all the old gas out of the tank.
Put in about 2 gal. or so of fresh gas.

Now, get back to the starter. You need it to "crank over" to
continue.