Hey guys I've had my evo for about a year now. Recently I've been having an intermittent starting problem. When I turn the key I hear a single click. If I keep turning the key sooner or later the car starts right up. I've had the battery tested as well as tried an optima battery out of my DSM. I've also replaced the starter and ignition switch with new oem parts. I've also run a new ground for the starter. None of these have changed anything. Any other ideas guys? Have looked at the wiring, everything seems to be in order. Nothing changed from how it was before the issue started. It does have an aftermarket viper alarm which is deactivated right now.
One other thing is sometimes it will start on the first try while other time it takes 5-10 minutes of trying.

 

Inside your starter there are contacts called brushes. They transmitter current from your battery to the rotating coil of your starter... They are either dirty or worn. Or both. Hit the dealer or mitsubishiparts.net and order a new set for 45 bucks. Drop your starter take off the sheild. The end cap has for bolts on it pull those and check your brush length. New they are 3/4in long or so. The thing they touch is called a commutator clean it with 1000grit sand paper and maybe starter cleaner. Do not touch sand paper to anything else. Just the section the brushes touch. Clean the rest of the starter to free it of grime so it can create a magnetic field properly. Also pop open your starter solenoid. Should just be 2 screws but the are loctited on. Heat them with a lighter and remove them. Clean it well. And scuff the contacts with the 1k grit. Should work like new.
Again be careful to not scuff the armature it will arc and ground out to the field couls and not rotate. Best of luck...

 

Like I said I just replaced the starter with an oem unit new. Neither starter has acted differently so I'm leaning towards it being something else. Anyone else have problems with the relay? Might try buying one and pulling the column and tracing wires again.

 

Could be a relay, anyone close to you with another evo that you could just swap it to check? When you try starting it does the motor turn?

 

I'm about an hour away from another evo, a perk of going to a small college motor doesn't turn, until it actually starts of course. Just a single click from under the hood, sounds to be the starter solenoid.

 

I miss read my apologies... I thought you replaced the starter relay not the starter. Check the signal wire. Its contacts my be dirty or it might have excessive resistance... It runs from the top of the starter to the big connector under the battery...

 

I've been fighting this for months.. I've replaced the starter 3 times, the ignition switch, the ground wires, added ground wires, Changed the battery twice.. problem returned. I've had both batteries tested and they test good. What I'm finding is that I have a parasitic draw on my system somewhere that's slowly draining my battery when the car sits. So if the voltage drops below about 12.2V, the car will just click. Sometimes eventually kicking over and starting right up.
But if I connect a set of jumper cables or a battery charger, it just cranks right over. Try that next time you're getting clicking and see if the car starts right up. I'm willing to be that you and I have the same issue - a parasitic draw somewhere.

 

That's what I'm afraid of. Previous owner had an ebc, turbo timer, alarm, battery tender, bluetooth, speakers, sub and double din installed

 

You can check for a parasitic draw pretty easy if you have a multimeter. Just disconnect the negative terminal and set your multimeter to "amps" (start with the highest your multimeter can go. Then put the multimeter probes between the terminal and the neg connections you removed. You should see no more than about 50 miliamps draw.. After that you get the fun of tracking down where it's coming from... Good luck.

 

Yea I think this is what I'll be doing Saturday before the OU game. Hopefully I can get this thing figured out! I had the battery tested at two places for kicks. One said bad and the other said good, go figure. May swap the battery again and see if it makes a difference, last time it was the same way though.

 

Hi there have u manage to solved the problem? Im having the same issue..

 

Edit: found it
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/showthread.php?t=627390
I'm on my phone but the thread is called "Intermittent Starting Problems - Mysterious Cause Identified and Fixed"

There was thread about having an issue where you had to turn the key 20 or 30 times to get it to start. There was a bracket or something that turned slightly when you turn the key and it suggested a zip tie to keep it from turning. I can't find it right now but ill keep looking. Hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about