Starter not working after transmission swap

[mirageman17]

So after a lengthy two ish three ish months due to my hectic work schedule I finally finished my transmission swap on my 2017 CVT G4. I go to start it and of course, starter doesn't click it's just dead silence.

Both the nuts on the starter are tightened down properly and I also have the wiring harness plug in on the little copper end on the starter. I tripled check it because I know sometimes it's finicky but it's definitely on.

Is there anything I should check that I've missed that would cause the starter to not work? I find it doubtful that the starter just broke as it was left alone for a few months, more likely I'm missing something somewhere somehow. Not a battery issue as I have plenty of voltage. Thoughts?

[mohammad]

Did you forget to install the engine ground strap? have you tried making the starter move by applying power to it directly with jumper cables?

[mirageman17]

Where is the engine ground strap? Possible I missed it. I did get my negative battery terminal ground back on the transmission as I thought it was the only ground I removed but it's totally possible it wasn't the only one.

I haven't tried jumping the starter yet, going to tomorrow morning.

[mohammad]

you can use a multimeter to test continuity between the starter body and the negative terminal of the battery.

[mirageman17]

Good thinking, I do have a multimeter and will take a look at it and update the thread tomorrow. Thanks!

[Fummins]

Gear selector(prnd) switch. Is it plugged in? Move the shifter while trying to start.
Do the reverse lights turn on in reverse?
The negative cable goes to the transmission and the other part goes to the strut tower I believe. There’s a tiny one on the rh engine mount that always breaks but isn’t required.

[Eggman]

Stupid question, but did you disconnect your battery for this swap? And did you reconnect it?

[Fummins]

You’d have to be pretty talented to be able to properly remove a cvt from a Mirage and leave the battery connected

[mirageman17]

Lol no kidding. I did remove the battery, first thing I did. Plus, even if I was pretty talented as Fummins says, you need to take out the battery and the tray for easy clearance to move the wiring harness, TB, upper bellhousing bolts, clips and the shifter cable.

However, I AM pretty talented and probably missed a clip on the transmission wiring harness. I believe I did plug in the gear selector switch but I'll take a look in about 4 hours or so when I'm back home. Will check everything you mentioned Fummins.

I did get the negative ground bolted up and in the right place. I know it's something simple and easy, I just gotta take a closer look at everything.

[Fummins]

Depending on how you removed the shifter cable(either removed entire lever from transmisison or removed cable from the lever itself) cable adjustment might be needed. I think one of my cheesy video's shows what I'm trying to say. https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...l=1#post155833

I think Eggman might have been alluding that one of the integral fusible links on the +battery terminal might be blown if the starter cable accidentally grounded out with the battery hooked up. That's always a possibility but not today.

There's only a few sensors on the transmission, 3 speed sensors primary and seconday clutch speed(iirc) and output(speedometer/odometer sensor-contrary to some that belief that speedometers use abs sensor data), the shift position sensor on top, and the big round pita sensor on the front drivers side corner. I don't know if the starter won't work if that one isn't seated all the way? I assume the starter should work if the shift sensor is plugged in and all other sensors aren't but don't feel like looking at a schematic.
Whatever it is, if it worked before and doesn't now, it can't be that hard to finger out and will be something simple-ish.