wazzelby

iTrader: (11)

All, I've had a thread here for a while in reference to getting the dreaded "click" when trying to start the car.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ick-still.html

This has been an epic battle with my car for the last 8 months. Here's the brief version of the story:

About 8 months ago I started to get a random click when turning the key to start the car. It was very intermittent and rarely happened. But eventually it started getting worse until it was happening about every 2-3 times I tried to start the car. Sometimes it would fire right up after turning the key a bunch of times. Other times it wouldn't at all unless I let it sit (or sometimes jumping the car).
So I searched threads, asked mechanics and friends and got the same bunch of answers -
"your battery is bad"
"your starter is bad"
"your ignition switch is bad"
"You have a grounding issue"
"your alarm or turbo timer is the problem"
I even ran a line directly from my battery to the starter and it turned over every time, but that didn't get to the root of the problem (I hate band-aid fixes), I wanted the car to start normally!

Well, I changed every one of these parts (some 2-3 times thinking I had bad parts). Still the problem got worse until one day it wouldn't start at all. So then my OCD kicked in and I started tracing wires. I checked everything from the ignition switch to the starter and there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Until I got to testing the actual output voltage of specific wires. Here's what I found and the $3 fix.....

I decided to check the output voltage of the ignition switch going to the starter. At the ignition switch voltage was about 12v (give or take a little). At the starter, I was only getting between 8.5v and 10.4v and the voltage varied each time I checked it.. Strange... So I traced the wire back from the starter again to a connection plug behind the battery. I noticed that I was losing voltage somewhere between the ignition and the starter solenoid. So I replaced the wire and gave it a go. No beans.. I was getting the same voltage readings....So I did what every red blooded American would do, I upped the power!!!

I decided to remove the wiring from the plug to the starter and put new wiring with a 12v relay in line. The car started right up, no clicking, no hesitation.. I was getting full voltage to the starter and the car hasn't "clicked" once! Been going strong now for about 4 days with no issues.

So, to summarize (for those that hate long stories), If you're having the click issue and have tried the following:
replaced battery, starter, ignition switch, ignition relay and removed your turbo timer then give this a shot.
Install a 12v relay in line to the starter solenoid (and replace the wiring there since it's probably dried and cracked anyway). This cost me about $3 in parts..

Also, there's another thread here by Ted B who also found a fix that I haven't seen before. You should definitely check that out (Thanks Ted!). Here's a link to his thread which is equally awesome!
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...ied-fixed.html

If anyone is having this issue and needs help, feel free to hit me up. BTW, I really think this or another thread with this information should be stickied somewhere. I'm seeing more and more people with this issue.

allwheelgrip007

iTrader: (2)

nice find, my buddy had this issue for a while. it "clicked" once or twice, and on the third try it would crank.

Robdeep3

iTrader: (1)

About to dig into this same issue. What does the relay look like you got from radio shack and and being this was a couple years ago has the problem come back at all.