Engine won't crank

[peifferu]

I turn the switch, the car has power, but when I try to start the engine nothing happens. It's a 92 LX with manual transmission. I made sure to pull the parking brake and push the clutch pedal pretty hard to make sure the switch engages. A couple days ago it started fine, I drove it to the gas station, and was going to leave and this happened. I popped the hood, jiggled all the wires around the starter and it worked. I drove to work, and at the end of the day it started. Although it sounded like it was struggling to start. Now it won't start at all again. I recently had to replace the main relay. Any ideas? Thanks!

[illinois_erik]

connections are probably crusty or the wires shot..go get dirty. theres 2 connections the fat wire from the battery and a small one that activates the starter.

[deevergote]

Could be the clutch switch, ignition switch, a bad battery connection. The first thing I would do is clean all battery and ground points, and make sure everything is hooked up tight. Make sure the battery is fully charged.

If you live in an area that has lots of room, you can even try a push-start.

[peifferu]

UPDATE: I took my starter/solenoid to autozone, they tested it, and it works just fine. I put it back on, double checked my battery connections and it started right up. It ran fine the next two days and then out of the blue it didn't start again. When I turn on the head lights and try to start the car the headlights dim slightly. Which means power is going to the starter, right?

[peifferu]

I tried putting a piece of wire in my clutch interlock switch and it still won't crank.

[oyajicool]

If I'm not mistaken, there is a relay in between ignition switch and the starter motor. The relay is called "starter motor cut out relay" and is located near steering column. This relay is controlled by the clutch switch.

Use a voltmeter to measure incoming voltage to the control (thin) wire go into the starter motor when in start position. If there's no voltage, find that cut out relay and replace.

See what happens.

Good luck.

[DAKOTADEMON7]

I would jump the starter to see what happens. I've seen bad starters test good because there's no load on them when bench tested. Use a stick or something to hold the clutch in and make sure the E brake is on for this test. It would be even safer if you unplug the wire harness from the coil so it won't fire up when your under the hood. Be very careful when dealing with high battery voltage.

[thumping_accord]

I've had the same issue with my car here recently, coincidently i also have a 92 lx with a manual trans. When it first happened i checked my clutch pedal there is a plastic piece that fits inside a slot on the top of the clutch which depresses one of the two clutch switches, sure enough that piece had gotten old and broke out. I also tested by holding the switch down and it seemed that switch was going bad cause it acted like it wanted to work but would cut out during ignition. I wound up cutting that switch out and replacing it with one imounted under the dash that i flip by hand, kinda like a jerry rigged theft deterrant lol, that seemed to work just fine, however; now that its gotten colder its starting to do the same thing again, but this time i know its not switch related. So im curious to what else it could be as well.