First off, my car has been running great & hasn't had any problems starting, till tonight after work. I turned the key & all it did was click (no cranking). My first thought was the main relay because I've had some bad ones in the past. I tried again & listened for the fuel pump. Sure enough, it was working.

The clicking is coming from something right behind my center console. It's a small plastic unit (another relay?). Here's pretty much what's happening: When the key's turned to the on position i hear one click from behind the console. When I turn the key back off I hear a click from the starter solenoid.

My battery is fairly new. My Starter, alternator & distributor are all less than a year old. I've never had any problems like this before, it just happened out of nowhere. I'll do some more searching but I've had no luck so far. If anyone has any idea what the problem is I'd really appreciate it!

 

I think you should be testing your battery before you start ripping apart your dash looking for defective relays.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ebelp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you should be testing your battery before you start ripping apart your dash looking for defective relays.</TD></TR></TABLE>

100%

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ebelp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think you should be testing your battery before you start ripping apart your dash looking for defective relays.</TD></TR></TABLE>



Just because it's fairly new doesn't necessarily mean it can't go bad. I've had batteries & alternators fail on me in under a year.

 

Try turning the key... and holding it there. If after second or two the car then starts up, I hear it may be a sticking solenoid. If that's it, then change the starter.

 

If you dont belive the first second or third guy, I say battery too

 

Also you might want to check your grounding strap coming off the top of the block, after i put my motor pack in mine did the same thing but aparently it wasnt grounded enought or correctly, b/c after i fixed it it hasnt given me any trouble.

 

Alright, i'll go ahead & test the battery. I didn't rip apart the dash, I just reached around the backside. Hopefully it's just the battery. Thanks for all the help so far guys

 

Check the battery, I had a brand new battery fail on me in less than a month.

 

THAT CLICKING SOUND THAT YOU HEAR IS THE RELAYS CLICKING BACK AND FORTH DO TO THE BATTERY FAILING.. I HAVE SEEN MANY OF TIMES.. WHAT IT IS DOING IS SENDING VOLTAGE TO IT WHEN U TURN THE KEY AND NOT BATTERY NOT HAVING ENOUGH VOLTAGE TO BE ABLE TO START KEEPS SENDING A SIGNAL TO THE RELAYS...

 

Yup, it ended up being a bad battery. I'm glad that's all it was. Thanks for the help everyone.