74 CL360 solenoid clicks but starter won't turn over

I think he means 12 V at the plug cap. Shouldn't read anything there, button pressed or not. Yes, check ALL joints. I've chased my tail several times when there was a bad connection between the wire and the connector. Corrosion happens, and a lot around the battery with its corrosive vapors in the air around it.

Yes I meant 12v at the plug cap. Previously I was getting ~4v at the starter pole of the solenoid but now that the solenoid is turning the starter motor over I'm back to getting 0v at the starter motor pole without pressing the start button.

Thinking through this I'm getting myself confused...

~12v is running from battery positive -> wire -> solenoid battery pole

Start button is pressed, solenoid makes contact

12v runs from battery pole -> across solenoid contact -> starter pole -> starter wire -> starter motor

BUT

The solenoid has 2 poles with 3 connections to those poles + a ground wire (black) and a wire to the starter button (red/yellow)
-One connection from the starter motor to the starter pole

-One connection from battery to the battery pole
-One connection to the harness from the battery pole (red + red/white wires that I believe are running to )

So 12v is running from the battery -> solenoid

BUT

12v is also running from the battery -> battery pole of the solenoid -> red wire -> ignition switch -> since the key is in and ignition switch is turned -> black wire from the ignition switch -> black/white wire to the coils -> 12v at the plug caps -> 12v at the plugs

Is this correct? If so, why is there still no spark if I know I'm getting power to the coils?

One other thing I forgot to mention:

When I was checking the plug caps, I get 12v WITHOUT the start button pressed, but the voltage drops to 10v WITH the start button pressed.

This is really confusing to me, because I should be getting a huge jump in volts with the start button pressed, not a drop.

Could this be from an issue with the Pamco sensor?

There should be zero volts at the plug cap. Have you checked all connections clean and tight yet? Until you do, you're wasting time IMHO. It isn't fun, but needs done. You may well find a connector falling off of a wire, or out of a socket. Oh, and check the main fuse. If it is a "dogbone" type, check it well and consider replacing it with a blade holder and fuse.

Yes I have checked the connections in the following chain:

Battery + -> solenoid -> red wire to ignition / red/white wire to reg/rect -> ignition to coils -> coil blue/yellow wire to pamco green/white wire + coil to spark plug caps

All of the above are showing ~12v

Shouldn't the pamco be the point at which the voltage drops to 0? So all of the above should have 12v except for the spark plug caps if the pamco unit is working properly and not telling the caps to fire?

I guess my question is at what point should I see voltage drop to 0 from the chain above?

You shouldn't be seeing voltage at the spark plug caps in that way. The PAMCO tells the coils when to fire, so the voltage should be at the coils. The plug caps only see voltage for the millisecond it fires and those are a lot of volts- somewhere around 40k.

Hey Irk thanks for the reply. I've been tearing my hair out this afternoon trying to figure this problem out.

So what you're saying is I should be seeing voltage going into the coils at the black/white wire but not coming out from the yellow / blue wires? So Since I'm seeing voltage at the spark plug caps something has to be wrong with both of my coils?

If you're seeing 12V at the spark plug, then the coil is probably toast. A breakdown (usually caused by heat) between the primary and secondary windings inside the coil will result in this symptom.

You're not getting this on both coils, right?

Thanks for the reply Sonreir. Yes I am getting 12v on both spark plug caps. It's definitely possible the coils are dead but it's confusing to me why both would fail at the same time. From what I've read, the coils are grounded to the frame and the forward bolt, so I cleaned that spot and made sure the frame and nuts were free of paint and rust. I'm still getting 12v at the plugs which drops to ~10v with pressing the starter button.

I'll check the resistances of the coils and let you guys know what I find. Thanks again for everyones help.

hillset said:

Thanks for the reply Sonreir. Yes I am getting 12v on both spark plug caps. It's definitely possible the coils are dead but it's confusing to me why both would fail at the same time. From what I've read, the coils are grounded to the frame and the forward bolt, so I cleaned that spot and made sure the frame and nuts were free of paint and rust. I'm still getting 12v at the plugs which drops to ~10v with pressing the starter button.

I'll check the resistances of the coils and let you guys know what I find. Thanks again for everyones help.

Click to expand...

If you left your key in the "on" position overnight it very well could have cooked both coils. I've done it before.

hillset said:

Thanks for the reply Sonreir. Yes I am getting 12v on both spark plug caps. It's definitely possible the coils are dead but it's confusing to me why both would fail at the same time. From what I've read, the coils are grounded to the frame and the forward bolt, so I cleaned that spot and made sure the frame and nuts were free of paint and rust. I'm still getting 12v at the plugs which drops to ~10v with pressing the starter button.

I'll check the resistances of the coils and let you guys know what I find. Thanks again for everyones help.

Click to expand...

The coils on the 360 are not grounded. Power comes in on the black/white wire and then out on the blue or yellow wire (depending on left or right cylinder). When the points are closed, that's when the primary winding gets grounded. Opening the points ungrounds the primary winding and that's what causes the spark.

If you have some spare coils laying around, I'd swap them in and see how it goes.

Also, confirm how you have your PAMCO wired. It's a bit different than stock configuration.