there should be a total of 3 wires gong to the starter 2 of them are attached to the same post. are you 100% certain that you hooked up the wires correctly?? You have to be100% on this as others have hooked up these wires incorrectly and ended up with starting problems.
I do not think that you having starter problems after doing the clutch is a coincidence. I believe that the starter is what is probably causing your intermittent starting problems. This we will confirm once we get the battery an alternator issue sorted out. Part of the alternator issue is going to require the verification of those wires being attached in the right places. Your car will not run without the air pipe being attached to the throttle body. If the post can be seen it can be gotten to by using a long screwdriver that you electrical tape to cover the exposed metal leaving only the very tip exposed and also a small section next to the handle that you can touch with the test lead. This is easier to do if you have alligator clip test leads but you can also do it if you have a 3rd hand available.
We have confirmed that the fusible link is not blow, this is a good thing. Now we need to confirm that there is not a connection problem between the alternator and the battery. This can only be done with the car running and there being a significant load on the alternator. If there is a connection issue then you will see 13.8+ volts at the alternator and a lower voltage at the battery. Having a load is the key to checking a connection. To much voltage drop means bad connection or improper wire diameter. In this case we know the wire diameter is going to be correct.
The starter sits between the alternator and the battery in terms of it's logical position in the power distribution in the vehicle. The current doesn't pass through the starter but there is the connection point on it.
the starter has two cylindrical components, a large one and a small one. The large one is the start motor, the small one is the starter solenoid. It is easier to think of the starter solenoid as a giant relay.. This is the component we have interest in.
there are 3 threaded posts on the end of it 2 of them are the same size and the 3rd is smaller in diameter. one large post is at the 12:00 position and the other is at the 6:00 position, the small one is at the 3:00 position. This is from the view of looking at the end of the starter.
The post at the 6:00 position has only a single wire attached to it, that wire heads into the side of the starter motor.. The one at the 12:00 position should have a large diameter wire coming off of it. it will be about the size of your pinky finger if you have a GXP and a little smaller if you have the base model. Now this is where it is going to get tricky because there are 2 more wires left and it is going to be hard to see in there and things are going to be dirty on top of it. The purple wire is the one that gets connected to the smaller post and the other wire (red = GXP, black = Base) is what gets connected to the large post at the 12:00 position.
Code:
*** ### ### ***
*## ##*
*## ,gPPRg, ##*
*## dP' `Yb <<<< ============ 2 wires one larger and one smaller, GXP: Red wires, Base: Black wires
*## Yb dP ##*
*## "8ggg8" ##*
*## ##*
*## ##*
*## ##*
*## .-. ##*
*## ( ) <<<< ========== PURPLE
*## '-' ##*
*## ##*
*## ##*
*## ##*
*## ,gPPRg, ##*
*## dP' `Yb ##*
*# Yb dP <<<< =========== Large wire to starter motor
*## "8ggg8" ##*
*## ##*
*** ### ### ***
