My 1600 buggy does not want to crank the motor. I've pulled starter motor out. What is the way to test these. I've tried connecting negative battery terminal to motor case and positive terminal to solenoid and then shorting the positive on solenoid with a small solenoid terminal. All i get is the solenoid working by engaging the gear (pulled out) but the motor itself does not turn. Does that mean the motor is gone. I had a spare one and it does the same thing. I doubt the spare is broken too so i must be doing something wrong.

Thanks.

For a start you will need a heavy cable to carry the amps (batter cable) to the starter solenoid (the big terminal with the nut)
And you will have to support the gear end (otherwise it will pole out) ie armiture will touch the inside magnets.

Hi Tom

Assuming motor is out of vehicle:
There are 3 terminals on the solenoid - 2 big bolt types and a little one. Put positive from battery to the big one closest to the motor, and negative to the case. This bypasses the solenoid. If this works the solenoid contacts are suspect.
If that doesn't work then;
Try rotating the starter motor by hand a little bit (with NO POWER connected) then connect battery as above. If it works now, the starter motor brushes/coils/commutater are suspect.

Good luck