I've began noticing a hesitation when starting my 98 gsr. When I go to turn the key to start it, it hesitates for around a second, then turns over and starts. It only does this sometimes. Most of the time it starts fine.

I'm in need of a solution as this has gotten worse. The other day at a stoplight, my car stalled (idle problem) and refused to turn over. I was stuck at the light until I pushed the car into the nearest parking lot. It took me about 5 minutes to get it started again. I checked connections to the starter and battery while in the parking lot. It just "decided" it wanted to start again.

Should I be looking into getting a new starter? or do you think it's an electrical issue that's non-starter related? Any help is appreciated

Edit: Could it be a bad ground somewhere?

 

What is happening when you try to start it? Do you hear a click? Are the dash lights on? The first thing you should do, is test the battery. Some things of the stuff that can prevent your car from starting are a bad battery, starter, clutch switch, security system, a faulty ignition switch. You can disconnect the clutch switch and jump the connector. Your starter is easy to access, you can use a remote starter switch directly from the battery to your starter. This will bypass everything and strictly see if your starter is working properly or not.

 

Dash lights up, main relay clicks, fuel pump primes every time this happens. Battery is only a few months old. I got down to check the clutch switch when I pushed it into the parking lot and it seems to be fine. It's not sticking or anything. I'm going to take the dash apart and trace some wires this weekend to see if anythings pinched or has a bad ground. It seems like symptoms of a bad connection somewhere or the starters on its way out

 

To test the clutch switch you can use a short wire, disconnect the clutch switch, jump the connector. The battery, although new can be defective, have a low state of charge, if its bad or weak it can cause a variety of problems. Have the battery tested, it's probably under warranty. Is the engine turning over slowly? How do you eventually get the engine started?

 

Test your coolant temperature sensor for ohms. Should be 2500 ohms when completely cold and 180-250 when warmed up.

 

Well.. my car is acting up again. It not starting at all at the moment. I think I can rule out the battery, because when ever it does decide to start, it cranks just fine. When it doesn't start there is no crank, just a little click noise, which leads me to believe its electrical. I'm gonna try bypassing the clutch switch tomorrow and see if it does anything. And I'm gonna try and swap starters with my friend to see if its defective. Any other possibilities you guys can think of, please post them

 

I bet its the starter(armature windings worn out/intermittent problem) if not its probably a bad connection from your signal wires or power wires due to loose connections or corroded connections. To eliminate loos or corroded connection try by passing with a starter switch powered from a terminal to positive battery post. If it doesn't click the. You know it's a wiring problem.

 

Next time it does it, hit the starter with a hammer. If it starts up it's the starter contacts.

 

I actually had a friend hit it with a 1/2in. socket wrench today and it started. It didn't start instantly, but after hitting constantly for about 20 seconds it started. Which leads me to believe the starter is the culprit of the problem