miii429

Hello, I have a 92 sc400, a couple of months ago I climbed to go somewhere and it wouldn't start. At first I thought this maybe a bad battery connection, because everything worked, but the starter just would not engage. So I wiggled the battery cables a few times, and after several attempts I finally got it to start. A few weeks went by and it happened again, this time after many attempts I still could not get it to start so I attempted a jump start and eventually got it to start. A few more weeks went by, after driving the car to the store I shut it off for 10 minutes, and when I came back out it would not start again, so after jump starting it again I took it to a shop. At the shop the battery tested fine, and the alternator was weak, so I had it changed. 2 weeks later the problem happened again, this time I took it in and explained the problem, and had the starter changed, then a few days ago it happened again???

In summary, randomly my starter will not engage? New starter and good battery, and new alternator. When I try to start the car, totally random, like sometimes it happens after I have already driven it a mile or so, but it is not consistent, it just wont try to start? I put the key in, turn it on, lights work, radio works, but I turn the key to try to start the car, and nothing happens, no noises of any kind, just plain nothing at all happens??? Does anyone have any ideas as to what might cause this???

Shrugy

iTrader: (12)

When the key is engaged to the ACC position, is there a check engine light appearing?

miii429

When I turn the key to the on position, all of the dash icon lights turn on as they are supposed to, and after a few seconds they turn off. I have no check engine light on when the car is off or running? IDK???

Bankswood

Have you checked the hot and ground wires from the starter to the battery. There could be a weak point somewhere in the wires that breaks from vibration during driving.

By the way how much did it cost you to have the starter replaced?

sjc2467

Anyone with any knowledge of basic electrical troubleshooting/diagnostics should be able to figure it out pretty quick, if you can duplicate the problem. Rather than taking it to someone who only knows how to throw parts at it, I would recommend finding someone who actually knows what they are doing. They'll probably charge an hour labor for diagnostics, but that's cheaper than throwing more unnecessary parts at it and hoping something sticks.

There are a number of things it could be, but i suspect one of the most likely things is probably a bad or mis-adjusted park/neutral safety switch. Next time it happens, try shifting into neutral and try to start it, or just shift out of park and back into park. If playing around with the gear shift fixes the problem, then it's almost certainly the safety switch. A bad connection somewhere in the battery positive wire to the starter, or the battery ground connection is very common (not necessarily the connection at the battery, although I expect that is most common). Check this: when you turn it to start and nothing happens, do the dash lights and everything else dim or go out? If everything keeps working normally while you're trying to start it, that rules out a bad connection at the battery (ground or positive). If all the lights dim or go out, it's almost certainly a bad connection at the battery or ground. There is still the connection at the starter to worry about (that wouldn't cause dimming), but replacing the starter almost certainly would have inadvertently fixed it, if that was the case. I have also seen the battery positive wire break inside the insulation, or come loose from the terminal/clamp in a way that is completely invisible to a casual inspection, but this is less common.