I know it's a dumb mistake but...
When we removed the starter and replaced it on our Sunfire, I lost the paper I had that told me where the three wires connect to the starter and solenoid.
Where do these three wires connect? (purple, red, black)
The little purple wire should go to the "S" terminal on the solenoid.
Is the red one a big heavy wire? If so it goes to the big "battery" terminal on the solenoid.
Not sure about a black wire, but you should have a gray fusible link that also connects to the big terminal on the solenoid.
After cleaning up the wires.. We have a small red wire, a small red/grey fusible link, and a small black wire that we need to connect.
I looked at the '96, '97, and '98 Sunfire wiring diagrams. They all show the exact same wiring scheme. The grey/red fusible link goes to the large battery terminal on the solenoid. There is a small purple wire on the solenoid's "S" terminal. No black wire or small red wire show up. Could your "black" wire actually be a purple one? Perhaps you could clean it further back along its length to make sure.
I'm at a loss to explain your small red wire. Does it have a small ring terminal on its end or some other type?
The black wire seems to go to ground. I connected the grey fusible link up with the main power lead and the red wire to the solenoid and all seems to work. Now I just have two more plugs to go and all of the wires will be re-connected.
We got the car as "salvage". The owner and her boyfriend had a lovers spat and he cut all of the wires that he could find under the hood.
Thanks for the help!
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