'89 240 DL wagon, not cranking, battery is fine

[spacemanspiff1386]

My swedish tank was running fine until a few nights ago when I left work, I hopped in to move it across the parking lot and meet some friends for dinner and what not, it started and ran fine, about 45 minutes later when we were leaving I turned the the key to experience nothing, not even a click. We tried jumping it and still not even a sound, but the lights are still bright and radio works fine which leads me to believe it's not the battery, alternator or something of that manner. The next day when I had the luxury of daylight I did a bit of troubleshooting and noticed the fuse near the starter had seen better days, I cleaned some of the gunk off re-inserted the fuse and voila it started right up. I drove the beast home and into the garage. Next time I started it the same problem took place, I've replaced the fuse with a brand new one and still not even a click.

Hopefully this narrows it down quite a bit. I have a feeling it should be a relatively easy fix. I'm not too mechanically savvy but I have made some basic repairs in the past. I'm trying to avoid having to get it towed to my mechanic and possibly be subjected to paying a diagnostic. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Billc1015]

You should also check the battery cables.


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[spacemanspiff1386]

I apologize I had a little brain fart, I replaced the fuse near the coil not the starter. I have yet to check if the coil is creating spark, should I address the starter or coil first?

Senor_Turkey no my key ring has only 3 keys on it, however very rarely the radio and headlights will go off while the car is still running but they return to normal if I adjust the key very slightly, literally a couple millimeters at most.

[aisrael]

I had a simmialr problem with my 93 244 and it turned out to be the neutral safety switch. It is located on the transmission selector.


Aaron

[Amys 940]

Since you are having other problems with your ignition switch, I suggest you wiggle the key around slightly in the ignition switch while trying to crank the car. Put the switch in the run position where you would expect to hear the starter turning and hold it there. While holding in this position, give pressure up down and in and out from the dashboard. If you hear a click or the starter begin to turn you know you need a new ignition switch. Also, as was mentioned before in this post you may have loose battery connectors. It is easy for at half decent connection to get you bright lights and radio, however, the amount of current needed to move the starter may just not be there if your connections are even slightly loose.

[spacemanspiff1386]

I borrowed a multimeter from my neighbor and tested the connections at the starter solenoid while someone turned the key it seemed to be spiking up to around 10 but it wasnt sustained it was just a spike so it was difficult to get an accurate reading, also im not sure if I was conducting the test correctly, I had the positive probe on the connector at the end of the red wire and the same for the braided black wire, if this is correct how would I go about testing the ignition switch? If this is incorrect whats the proper method? I tried wiggling the key in all directions as amys 940 indicated and still no dice.

P.s. Thanks for everyone's input it is greatly appreciated

[billofdurham]

You need to test at the blue/yellow wire on the starter motor. The red wire is a feed from the battery.

The attached tells how it is done but doesn't say the colours of the wires:

240 starter does not crank engine.pdf

(136.19 KiB) Downloaded 151 times

For test 1 use the blue/yellow on the starter.
For test 2 use the blue from the ignition switch.
For test 3 use the red wire on the starter motor.

Bill.