Ok so Im not sure how to diagnosis this issue. the car has done this 3 times over the past 6 months. once when it was somewhat cold and he other times when the car was at temp. basicly you can click the key forward and nothing, the fuel pump primes, lights all work but the solenoid doesnt click. I tried jumping the solenoid and that turned over no problem. if I leave the car alone for a lil while (5mins to an hour) itll start right up no problem and continue to start for week/months. its kinda retarded, and tapping on the solenoid doesnt do a damn thing. could it still be the solenoid since I jumped the main power to the small connector and it clicked and turned over?

 

try taking apart the ring wires under the red junction box on the pass side. make sure it's all tight and not gunked up. or just buy a new starter

 

I have had ignition switches do that before

 

Neutral safety switch or clutch switch could also be the problem.

 

I dont have that junction box since I converted the harness for stand alone use when I swapped it into the thirdgen 4 years ago. I did check the connections at the starter and at the two optima red top batteries and all is tight and spotless.


that was my first thought but I couldnt reproduce the problem or get it to be consistent.

The clutch switch was my first guess and I replaced that the first time it happened.

Nothing more annoying than an inconsistent Electrical problem! it hasnt left me stranded anywhere. Ill prolly just have to wait it out and see if it gets more frequent. thanks for the thoughts. I was just hoping I wasnt overlooking something obvious.

 

Next time it does it you can check to see if you are getting hot on the small post of the solenoid when cranking. If so, you can eliminate ignition switch, VATS, clutch switch, etc. It would definately be the solenoid.

 

not just hot, you need battery voltage at the small wire, I had high resistance in the ignition switch on my Iroc, and it lit a test light, but was only about 9.5 volts, not enough to trigger the solenoid

 

Ya thats what I wanted to do but it has happened when I was away from my tools and the other times it was just to hot out to mess with so I just waited about 20mins and it started right up? like I said kinda retarded. I jumped the small pole to the large pole with a coat hanger while I was stuck in a parking lot and it turned right over, so that leads me to believe that the starter is fine. but ive seen crazier things!

the ignition switch was going to be my next fix but since this is a random thing I dont want to go swapping parts until I can confirm the source of the issue. and the VATS has been programed out so that shouldnt be a problem.

 

Igniton switch. I'll bet money on it.

 

Does the security light come on the dash when this happens?

 

well it might come on but I wouldnt know since that wast one of the wires I connected from the 97 wiring harness to my 91 harness. the "VATS" on the 91 side of the car havent existed for at least 6 years....