"Click" when starting **Finally fixed**!!!!!!!!!
 

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.

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

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.