hey everyone...

i was searching using the search tool, and it went down. don't know how long, but i need to find out what i need to fix my car as soon as possible. it's my daily driver, and i commute to work and back. live WAY too far from anyone else to get a ride from, and nobody to borrow a car from!


car has been perfectly fine.
today, running late as always, get in the car, turn the key and nothing.
radio, lights, everything is running fine, just no cranking whatsoever.

pushed my car back as far as i could in the mud and rain...
pushed it off, and got it started...

turn my key even with the car running, and it doesn't make that wierd screaching sound that happens when you try to crank your car with it running.


what happened?
starter?
i hate to pay like $100 for a new one, replace it, and it not be what's wrong with it...

thanks!


i should add... about a year ago, i drove up to canada, and the car did this exact same thing. pushed it off... took it to a mechanic and when i turned the car off, i tried to crank it, and it started up fine... he told me it needed to be replaced because it could do it again at any time, but he quoted me like $500 and threatened to call the cops if i didn't pay the $50 for the 30 seconds it took him to look at the car and say "yup... starter needs to be replaced". anyways! i never did replace it.

 

Try running a power wire from the batt to the starter, see if it turns over. Get someone to turn the key and check volts to the starter.

 

i arc'ed the starter with a screwdriver and it cranks and starts.
but still, when i turn the key, it doesn't start.

what could this be?

ignition starter switch?
if so... damn. i looked at napa.com and it's like $300+ for a replacement

thanks.

 

This might sound dumb but make sure you check the positive and negative wires on the battery and make sure they are on tight. This happened to me yesterday- everything would turn on but the car would not crank over at all- and it turned out to be just a loose positive on the battery.

 

thanks for the post. yeah they're tight...
plus when i touched the two connections on the actual starter together, it cranked.

i've checked all the wiring i can see, and all the fuses i can find.
if it is something in the switch, which seems to be EXPENSIVE, maybe i'll buy an s2000 push button and wire that up? i know not everyone likes em, but $40 isn't bad to get my car running again.

 

Id say either starter relay, or ignition switch.

 

push start it

 

where IS the starter relay? there isn't a fuse anywhere for it is there? other then under the dash... is there one of those huge ones hiding anywhere?

 

how can i check to see if my switch is bad?

should i take the steering column off.... find the starter wire where it goes into the ignition switch and connect a 12v wire? i suppose if the wire is good and not shorted out, it'll crank? if not... wire is shorted out somewhere down the line?

thanks for the help everyone...