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70 Challenger Starting Issues

plymouthbelvy

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Hello.I have a 70 Challenger 340 4 speed that has been acting up the past couple of months.I push in clutch as it has the safety switch and nothing. This is random and may do it several times in a day and may not happen again for a week later. When it does this I cross over the starter relay and it starts right up.At first I changed starter,realy and positive battery cable and it still does this. My clutch safety switch was rebuilt a year ago. I just ran a ground wire to relay and bypassed the clutch safety switch and it still did it again tonight after several starts with no issues. Im baffled. Anybody have any thoughts? Thanks.
 

rogue

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i don't have a 4 speed but an auto... i find this sort of thing is usually flakey wiring... for instance, neutral safety switch wires loose (again it's an auto), crappy connections at the bulkhead disconnect, etc... since you can jump the starter relay and it fires up it (to me) indicates that sort of flakey wiring issue upstream of the starter relay...
 

plymouthbelvy

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i don't have a 4 speed but an auto... i find this sort of thing is usually flakey wiring... for instance, neutral safety switch wires loose (again it's an auto), crappy connections at the bulkhead disconnect, etc... since you can jump the starter relay and it fires up it (to me) indicates that sort of flakey wiring issue upstream of the starter relay...
Thanks for the reply and info. Its been a journey this past couple of months. I am going to un plug all connections at bulkhead and steering column tomorrow and see if that makes a difference. My buddy who helped me with car thought a loose wire at bulkhead or column made be the issue. Maybe a bad ground? Thanks.
 

AUSTA

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I have the 4 speed clutch switch the switch connects 1 side of the relay to ground so if you are still having problem it could be the positive start circuit from the key check the steering column connectors for continuity.
 

plymouthbelvy

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I have the 4 speed clutch switch the switch connects 1 side of the relay to ground so if you are still having problem it could be the positive start circuit from the key check the steering column connectors for continuity.
Thanks.Thats my next plan of attack.Check steering column wiring and bulkhead.
 

rogue

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definitely check your grounds, especially if the car was newly painted... or even if not... poor grounding and bad connections or wiring are really common on cars as old as these
 

plymouthbelvy

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definitely check your grounds, especially if the car was newly painted... or even if not... poor grounding and bad connections or wiring are really common on cars as old as these
Thanks.Car was recently painted during restoration.Car has been done about a year now and started great up until the past couple of months.
 

dadeo1852

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While you're checking connections make sure you check and clean this one for your clutch switch. I accidentally unplugged this once at a show while cleaning.
connector.jpg
 

plymouthbelvy

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Yep.I actually unplugged and plugged it back it in when the issues started.It seem like it was plugged in fine and still having issues.Thanks for the heads up.
 
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