No Crank, No Start after rear interior work

[sapote]

voltage at the fender post and battery cables both remain at 12V when cranking. it's only at the starter where the voltage drops to 0V. When I put 12V directly to the starter when cranking, the car starts and idles fine.

There are minimum 2 wires at the starter, so which one dropped to 0v -- fat or skinny one? The fat cable is the same one connected to the fender jumper post which you said it had 12v (not 12 but something around 12.6v; in this case a precise value is important).

[ejendow]

Hey guys, thank you for all of your recommendations! When I kept testing, I found that putting the 12V from the fender post to the starter directly let me crank and start the car. To me, this meant that something was wrong with the cable that runs from this post to the starter itself. When I went to unbolt the fender battery terminal nut, there was hidden surface rust under the cable that runs to the starter. After cleaning this up, the car cranked and started just fine. I feel dumb for never checking this, but I'm glad this was ultimately such a simple fix. Make sure your power connections are clean people!!

[sapote]

After cleaning this up, the car cranked and started just fine. I feel dumb for never checking this, but I'm glad this was ultimately such a simple fix. Make sure your power connections are clean people!!!

You didn’t touch the cable connection recently?
I am surprised that the battery didn’t have charging issue before, or the fender jumper got very hot and melted plastic box.

[ejendow]

You didn't touch the cable connection recently?
I am surprised that the battery didn't have charging issue before, or the fender jumper got very hot and melted plastic box.

surprisingly not. no hard starts, charging issues etc.

Even on the morning this happened, car started up just fine. Really just a weird coincidence on timing

[sapote]

surprisingly not. no hard starts, charging issues etc.

Even on the morning this happened, car started up just fine. Really just a weird coincidence on timing

The rust or oxidation on the cable connection had been going on for a long time so during engine running, heat from extra higher resistance was created for a while.

[Will]

Hey guys, thank you for all of your recommendations! When I kept testing, I found that putting the 12V from the fender post to the starter directly let me crank and start the car. To me, this meant that something was wrong with the cable that runs from this post to the starter itself. When I went to unbolt the fender battery terminal nut, there was hidden surface rust under the cable that runs to the starter. After cleaning this up, the car cranked and started just fine. I feel dumb for never checking this, but I'm glad this was ultimately such a simple fix. Make sure your power connections are clean people!!

Thanks for posting your findings and resolution. Glad you found the problem and it's back to normal.