I have had this issue going on for a while now, probably about a year but I only drive the car from May to Sept. so I have just left, it, but I dont want to deal with it any more. My car is very finicky about starting now and I cant determine what the problem is....Sometimes the car will start completely normally, I get in, turn the key and its all good. Other times, Ill get in, turn the key, all the lights and chimes etc work fine, (I know the charge on the battery is fine, that isnt the problem) I turn the key to turn the motor over, and it just clicks once (not rapid clicking like the batt. is dying), like a relay is being activated or something, and will not crank.

I am thinking it is some sort of solenoid somewhere in the system or something, potentially even the starter motor. I am wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this or knows what might be causing it, I really dont want to go chasing down electrical problems blindly...

Sometimes if I cycle the ignition back to off then back to cranking and try again repeatedly it will eventually work. Other times it doesnt work at all and I just get frustrated and bump start it which is pretty ghetto . Still other times it cranks first try...so Im kind of confused.


Thanks for any advice.

 

As the pellet in the key wears and the contacts inside the switch wear down, contact is haphazard at best.

Try jumping out the VATS with the correct size resistor. Look at shoe's website to see how.

 

I was reading shoebox's site - I am not sure if I am having a problem with the VATS or not...I dont get a flashing security light when I try to start it. I will try my spare key (maybe the pellet isnt as worn) and give some of his VATS troubleshooting techniques a shot and see what happens - thanks for your advice, hopefully it will be something easy.

When I try to start it, it will click once somewhere in the system...it seems almost like the starter motor is engaging with the flywheel (shank in motor sticks out of housing to engage with flywheel when given power during cranking) but is not actually cranking the motor. I cant confirm if that is the click or not....

Any other ideas?

 

My ignition switch went out a while back and did the same thing. Would just click every now and then. Turned out to be contacts going bad. Sounds just like what you described in the first post.

Have you ever seen smoke from the steering column?

 

I had the exact same problem in my car. Your solenoid is working fine which means everything is fine to the solenoid which is located on the starter. The bolts could be lose on the wire from the starter to the solenoid or you have a bad starter. In my car I had a bad starter. I replaced it and everything is great.

I had a bad winding in my starter which was causing the issue. I started thinking my battery is going to go out over the last year because the car was turning over slow. After replacing the starter about 5 years ago the car turns over just like a new car and I still haven't replaced the battery.

 

I had that problem when my car was still under warranty. It was a dead spot in the starter motor windings.

 

I have the exact same problem you have, sometimes I had to wait 15 minutes for it to start, but usually it starts immediately and it was very random. Right now my car wont start at all and makes that click sound when you turn the key. I think like they stated the problem is a bad starter, I am in the process of putting in a new one right now. BTW will your car still start now?

 

It will start and runs completely fine once its started, but it seems completely random as to when it is going to actually crank and when it is just going to click, it drives me crazy. Thanks for the help though guys it sounds like the starter is the issue here. Not a difficult part to replace, I'll have to pick a new one up and give that a try.