turn the key and nothing.. .??

Hi all,

new problem.. this happened a few months ago but had since then went away..

my wife took the car to the store today... and when she came back to start the car.. she turned the key and nothing.. :(
instrument panel and everything else seems to be working fine.. I don't hear any clicking or buzzing coming from the starter/solenoid.. so I'm suspecting the starter.. is there something else I could check first before attempting to yank the starter out? I've already replaced the battery a few months ago when this first happened.. since a garage told me my factory battery was toast (not bad.. got 8 years out of it)

my grand am is a 1997 3.1

thxs
-JG

Use a remote starter switch which is available at your local autoparts store. Just connect one end of the wire to the battery positive terminal and the other end to the starter and just then just press the button. If the starter turns over, then the starter is probably fine. The starter solenoid is probably toast. You could just try to clean all the connectors and tighten them good around the starter and the battery including the ground connections.

I had the same exact problem with my grand am months ago, and it turned out it was the starter. It started ok most of the time, but every so often it wouldn't start and i'd be stranded until it finally would start up. Took it to several places and was told it wasn't the starter most likely. Was told it was ignition switch, neutral safety switch, alternator, battery...etc. In the end it was the starter, which seems so obvious in hindsight.

it must be the starter or dirty connections.. because this morning the car started perfectly (didn't do anything to it yet) ... I stopped it and it turned over again.. weird wild stuff! I though maybe I had a bad battery however a boost wasn't working at the time.. this is the second time in the past 3 months this has happened.. would a bad starter/solenoid do this so spread out?

When I had this problem, it was intermittent, and it did go on for months. I would turn the key and get nothing over and over. Then try a few minutes later and it would start normally. Then I'd go a week or two with no problems. Then once again I'd be stuck somewhere cos it wouldn't start. It was the starter, but it took months to get it fixed because every place I took it I was told it was another problem and it wasn't. Of course I didn't know that the problem wasn't fixed until time passed and it would happen again. It was frustrating because the thing always started fine in the shop, and I was told they couldn't fix it if it wasn't happening there.

I'll have to get my hands on a remote starter switch just in case it happens again... once it stops raining around here I'll try cleaning the connections at the starter.. I think I saw some "green" when I last looked quickly at the starter..

thxs guys for the help :)