Sporadic Starting Problem on a 91 Corolla

Hello Everyone,

My father in law recently purchased a 1991 Corolla with 148k miles. The car runs great, but has an issue with starting (only sometimes). About half the time, it will start right up. The other half the time, it won't even turn over. I was wondering if maybe there was a switch somewhere that might be making poor contact (like a switch to tell the car that it is in park or something). Does anyone have any idea what could cause this?

It's a 1991 corolla, 4cylinder, automatic transmission.

Thanks for any help or ideas you have.

on the times it won't fire up, does it click or make any sounds at all? My 91 Carolla did this to me for a time before it quit. I had a combination of issues on mine. The starter was bad (though it tested good, my uncle pulled it apart and noticed it was burning up.) I have also had to replace my ignition switch. Between those two repairs, it works just fine now. However, I also need to replace the ignition cylinder, so I have to jiggle the key in the ignition to get it to actually crank. Let me know, maybe I can help you figure it out. Origionally it was the starter that was the problem.