Anyone good with electrical? Will this work?

So yesterday my car won't start. Turn the Key and only the starter spins. The solenoid is not engaging so the starter never meets the flywheel. I replaced the starter and solenoid yesterday and it's doing the same thing.
From here all I can think of is a broken wire somewhere along the way. I do not have time or a place to really get involved. Yesterday I was laying on a yoga mat with my legs in the snow and I'm not ready to do that again. Plus my hand is #ed up and my stump is still burning.
So here is what I am thinking.
Cut the wire from the solenoid to bypass the harness.
Take a wire and go from solenoid to a button or switch and from that to my battery. That way when I need to start the car I can press button and the solenoid would engage and then I can turn the Key to start. When the car starts I can let off the button and it will disengage.

Does that sound like it will work? I only need this car to last a couple months. That's all I care about.
It works in my stupid head

01 Saturn sl1

Thanks all. Be back in a few hours after work

a reply to: TinySickTears

... or replace the solenoid.

a reply to: chr0naut

Thanks for reading.
I already did

a reply to: chr0naut

He said he replaced it already.

If you are only going to do this for a month or so then what the hell. I've heard of a lot worse.

a reply to: MisterSpock

I just don't want to waste time. The cold is rough on my fingers.
Have to get back to work. Back later

If the starter motor is turning and the silinoid is kicking in but not engaging with the flywheel then you may be missing some flywheel teeth ,
Try to turn the crank by hand to move the flywheel a bit to see if that works .
I think Saturn may have that problem, I have had chevy trucks do the same thing .
If you hear the cranking gear kick out but not engaging the flywheel,i would say it's a possibility.

originally posted by: TinySickTears
a reply to: chr0naut

Thanks for reading.

I already did

My bad.

Apologies.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Yes it should work, sounds like your s wire that goes from the ignition switch to the solenoid is broken....

a reply to: JHumm

Yeah or maybe he needs to shim the starter?

a reply to: TinySickTears

might check the grounds

a reply to: TinySickTears

Called a bump starter or remote starter for the mechanically inclined. Used to steal cars, bench test starters , find top dead center...

Amazon

Thing is, if you already replaced the starter and it still free spins, you are dealing with missing teeth on the fly wheel. You can turn the engine a little bit to expose a different part of the flywheel to the starter gear. If you have a clutch thats easy, roll the car in gear a few feet.

There might be more than one place the fly wheel is missing teeth, every time you start you are playing the lottery.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I actually did this to my old 88 Ford F-150 and it’s been working for about six months now.

From what I read it sounds like your starter bendix is NOT engaging? Then yeah your solution should work.

ETA: If your solution doesn’t work then I would think that you have a bad part. Sometimes you can get a bad part from the factory. It’s probably missing/broke a spring for the bendix or maybe the pin for the bendix is broke. It’s probably made in China

a reply to: intrptr

I think what he is saying is that his starter is spinning but the bendix is not engaging. Otherwise if the bendix IS engaging then I would agree with you, I have had that problem.

a reply to: TinySickTears

I used to own a PT Cruiser.

Had an issue where the car would not start. Thought it was the starter.

Come to find out that the wire going to power the starter was cheap braided wire. This wire was slowly corroding as the car got older. And whenever it was humid the resistance would build up in the wire and not let enough juice go to the starter. Up to the point that it refused to start. Finally I sold the car to a neighbor who was a mechanic and he was sitting there for a week trying to get the car to start. When I stumbled across a post online about the defective wiring.

He changed the wire and the car started. Check your wire.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Sounds like your missing starter teeth,or worse on flywheel,have to take it apart and see,otherwise might short your system out,that will be real expensive

Either the starter isn't kicking out or it is missing teeth on the flywheel. I have had a flywheel go bad on me quite a few years ago. It might be shimmable though. If the third wire on the flywheel goes, the thing won't work at all on older cars. I don't know about newer cars, but that third wire actually kicks the starter drive out and it triggers the power to connect the starter to turn.

The starter you got may be defective too, that does happen sometimes with rebuilts. I always bench test them before putting them in. I learned that long ago.

Here is one thing to try. Clean the ground wire and the hot wire at the battery. Also check to make sure the grounds to the body and engine are not too corroded. Sometimes if there isn't enough power, the starter will spin but not kick out. The battery would have to be pretty dead or the connections really bad for that to happen though.

What kind of car and what year is the car.

You can actually test if the wire is bad on some cars by jumping the hot starter terminal to the small wire post.. I have done that before because of wondering if the little wire was bad. If so, you need to clean the connections on the little wire circuit. But there would be no turning if that was the case. Is the new starter the right starter?

If your starter is spinning but not turning the engine over, the bendix is not engaging the flywheel. The bendix is usually a mechanical device and nothing you do electrically will help. As others have said, if the starter is spinning fast enough but not engaging, the likely problem since you have replaced the starter already is missing teeth on the flywheel. As others have said, turn the engine just a little by hand and try the starter again. If the fan belt is tight enough you may be able to turn the engine enough with with it.

Your problem does not sound electrical. Check the fly wheel.

I would pull the starter and watch it function when turning the key, then trace the power source to the bendix back through the system, including any grounds, see if the relay is sending out power. When its out, you can look in the hole to see if the flywheel teeth are missing. Also try to start it with a jump, in case the voltage it too low to the bendix to allow it to move far enough out.

a reply to: Alien Abduct

That might work as well , good point.

Thanks for the help so far. The flywheel is not missing teeth. At least not in the position it's in now and now is when it won't start. I could see a bunch of teeth when I pulled the starter. All good.

Again the problem is the starter is turning but the solenoid is not engaging so the starter teeth never meet the flywheel teeth.
That's why I think it's a faulty wire somewhere