I posted a starting problem back in the summer and attributed it to the Park/Neutral safety switch which I never replaced, but I did replace the starter before realizing that it was probably the P/N safety switch. As the summer heat subsided, the problem went away. Just yesterday, the problem came back in full force. Twice I thought the car was going to leave me stranded, but I managed to get it started. Again, when the key is turned, I here a "clunk" as if the starter is engaging. Moved the shifter to N; no good. Ran the shifter through all gears; no good. When going through all of these non-starts, I noticed that the interior lights would go out and then go back on when I released the key. When I got home, I tested the battery and it's sitting at 12.7 volts without the engine running. I also cleaned the negative battery connection to the body. Any ideas??

 

Ignition switch? Easy to change and inexpensive.

Also try switching your theft warning relay and inhibitor relay with anothers of the same type. You can swap out the wiper relay with the inhibitor relay IIRC.

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned that I did replace the ignition switch before replacing the starter.

 

Has anyone heard of a "heat" related starting problem?? It seems that my starting problem occurs when the outside temp is hot. After I had all the trouble the other day, the car sat overnight and started just fine in the morning. Any ideas??

Joe