Once the key is turned all the way to start the engine, the dash lights come on as usual and the relays click, but that's it. The engine doesn't even try to turn over. Now here's the weird part - a few days ago, it "decided" to fire up without any problems, and I drove it around for about 2 days (and it ran better than it ever has with a dead perfect idle speed). And then the other morning I went to go to work and it wasn't turning over again. No warning lights, no trouble codes from the ECU. ????

The battery is fine. New distributor a few months ago. I made a jumper cable connecting the battery and the starter, as the repair manual for my car suggests. It made a small click upon contact, but that's about it. So the starter is dead? Also I checked the resistance on the coil, and I got zip. So is it the coil?

The whole thing is made more confusing by the fact that it ran for two days without any problems.

 

hit the starter solenoid with a pry bar or something, then try start it, seems like the starter is bad.

 

this happened to me and i had to replace my starter. but also my battery is relocated to the trunk. so it happened again just the other day with my new starter. i did the connect the + from the battery to the starter and it did the click noise and sparked. located a bad fuse on my distribution block. replaced the fuse with a bolt(only thing i had on hand). starts up fine now. im gonna get bigger power wires in the future

 

thank you for the advice, people.

Yeah, someone at work today told me to whack the starter lightly with a hammer. I'll have to try that when I get home tonight, give it the `ol Fonz.

bdmlilburn - could you define "distribution block"? I've checked the fuses under the dash and under the hood. If there's another fuse someplace else I'd like to know about it so I can rule it out.

Also, has anyone had a lot of trouble getting the starter out? I'm a small guy, but even I had to remove the fan shroud from the radiator to get even a little bit of leverage on that lower bolt. Also, that bolt seems to be 17mm while the upper one is 15mm. Correct? I ask because I'm a viking when it comes to stripping bolt heads. thanks again.

 

Yep. The hammer did it. Starter.