95 gsx trouble starting

[NateS]

Ever since I bought this car about 2 years ago with almost no mods the car had a weird starting problem. When you turn the key there is a click and it does not turn over at all. After turning the key a few times the car would start. This happened randomly for about a year or so. As time went on this problem became more frequent. Now its a miracle if it starts on the first key turn. Once it has started, if it stalls it will usually start right back up on the 2nd or 3rd key turn. I had advanced auto check the starter they said it checked out. I bought a brand new battery and new much needed terminals. Any ideas here? Short in the wiring? Maybe advanced auto muffed up the check? Bad solenoid?

[97GSTspyder]

I've went through a bad starter solenoid and from that experience, my car would not usually start. So I'd have to get under it and smack the solenoid with a hammer, then start it. Then after driving it and going over bumps, and motor vibration, it'd fuck with the solenoid and it wouldn't start again...So same routine, jack car up, slide under it, beat solenoid, start it...Your problem could be an ignition switch maybe? When I had the Spyder, the ignition switch went bad and it got so bad to the point where sometimes if I were driving, my car would shut off completely. I'd have to quickly reach up under the dash with my Go-Go Gadget Arms (lol, it's a tight space and had to reach far) and jiggle the wires around. Most times the car wouldn't start after shutting it off, and again I'd have to jiggle the wires a bit. I'd say check the switch out if you've checked everything else.

[NateS]

Thanks. I was reading up on a lot of stuff and ended up ordering a new starter relay. If that doesn't fix the problem I'm going to take the starter out again and have it tested again. I think what they did is instead of using the terminal that sends the signal through the solenoid they used the terminal that bypasses the solenoid therefore if the solenoid was bad they would have no idea.

[SilvrEclipse]

I would be testing the solenoid like you said. They probably bypassed it so I would get them to recheck it. If they can even test the solenoid.

[NateS]

That is exactly what i plan to do. They said they can't check my relay for me so if the new one doesn't fix the problem I'm just going to return it. I was thinking about writing up a bad starter/solenoid/relay article because I had to do a good bit of surfing before I found all the information I needed to figure this out myself.

[NateS]

Okay so I still have this same problem.

*UPDATE*

I bought and installed a new starter because the old one was getting weak (although still good). I also had my battery tested and fully charged. I bought and installed brand new battery terminals. I also installed brand new copper lugs on my ground connections to my chassis and the starter. I actually put the lug right on one of the two bolts that hold the starter on the transmission to make sure it has a good connection through the starter.

Yet, STILL the car won't start unless I turn the key like thirty times. Today I'm going to check the clutch switch and the starter relay. Anyone else have any ideas? I thought about checking the ignition switch but, I'm not sure where that might be. Seeings how the car runs fine once it has started and usually restarts pretty easy I think it is a starter circuit problem instead of an ignition problem.

* For awhile I was having this weird machine gun clicking noise from my starter when I would turn the key. I found out that this is because there is barely enough juice from the battery to engage the starter but, not enough to turn it. So, if you hear a machine gun clicking and all your lights dim and flicker then replace/check your battery. Sometimes even trying to jump start won't be enough so pull the battery and have it tested. If this doesn't work check that your connections are tight on the starter.

** Found this on another site and it would be useful to anyone searching through the forums for help on this subject:

You can narrow the problem down by jumpering the small terminal on the starter to the battery positive. You will need to make sure the vehicle is in NEUTRAL and the emergency brake is on. If the car starts cranking over, then the starter is fine and you likely have a bad clutch switch or starter relay. The clutch switch is located on the clutch pedal, a quick visual to ensure that it is connected. If it isn't, the next easiest step would to then disconnect the switch and jumper the switch, which would bypass the need to push the clutch pedal in to start (ensuring you reconnected the starter wire to the starter). If that doesn't take care of it, the starter relay is located behind the radio bolted to the floor. It is the smaller unit, on the far left. jumpering the black-yellow to a black-red wire (there are two) should then also allow the starter to engage.

[NateS]

Today I jumped my starter relay out and it still wouldn't start. My ignition switch also checked out okay. I checked my clutch switch because, I had already jumped it out a year or so ago but, I thought the wires may have come loose. The clutch switch checked out okay too. I'm not sure where to go from here. The weird thing is that the more times I start my car the easier it is becoming to get it started in less key turns. Any ideas?

Things done so far:
-Charged/checked battery
-Installed brand new starter
-Checked and tightened all wire connections to starter
-Checked ignition switch
-Checked starter relay
-Jumped the clutch switch out

[NateS]

Anyone have any ideas!? The car needs to go for an inspection asap too so if I can't figure this out I'm just going to let my trusted mechanic play with it because I've had the shits of electrical problems.

[Blackcrow64]

It sounds like everything has been gone over that should be the normal problem areas. However, there is one more thing you could check... Do you have or know somebody with a spare ECU you could try swapping out to test it? I've heard of people having strange issues like this and other weird problems and switching the ECU has fixed it sometimes. We've seen a few ECU's get shorts in em which causes these strange problems. Give that a shot though and see if it helps. I'm not really sure what else there could be to check if you've checked all the switches and wiring for shorts... Good luck with it man!

[NateS]

Yeah I was hoping it didn't come down to that haha. I don't know anyone with an spare ECU but, I'll ask around. I'll update this thread when I figure things out.

[Blackcrow64]

Originally Posted by Just a GSX fan

Yeah I was hoping it didn't come down to that haha. I don't know anyone with an spare ECU but, I'll ask around. I'll update this thread when I figure things out.

Unfortunately the ECU contributes to a lot more problems than people expect it to.
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[NateS]

So I was on my back checking out my clutch switch to make sure it was disabled. I started checking out all the wiring under my steering column to see what the guy who had it before me 6 years ago did. I noticed a few things.

1. The clutch switch was not unplugged at either locations (at switch or at the T split) however, I have never pushed my clutch in to start my car. (Is there any other way to disable to clutch switch other than cutting/pulling the connectors??? BTW, I unplugged it just to make sure it wasn't the problem.

2. There is a white wire with two conductors(like #18AWG) in it tied up under my steering column. It is all white with a red line on one conductor. I noticed it was cut and spliced at two locations so I pulled the electrical tape off. The first one was just cut and soldered together. The other splice has a resistor spliced into it. After pulling the electrical tape off the resistor and just messing with it my car starts right up 60% of the time on the first key turn. The wire that was spliced to the 2 locations on the white/red wire run towards my ECU. I'll trace them out better sometime this week. It looks like these wires were added or altered because they are not with any other factory wiring. Any idea what these wires are for? Any idea why there is a resistor in this circuit?

On a side note the throttle % output on my AFC stopped working all of a sudden today. My car runs perfectly fine with no noticeable side effects. In monitor mode it stays at 0% all the time.

WTF is going on with my car?

[Blackcrow64]

I am willing to bet he tapped into an ECU line for the AFC and half-assed it and now it has a bad connection. As far as adding a resistor, wtf? I see no reason why someone would have added it. One end goes to the ECU and the other end to where?... The clutch switch can only be disabled by cutting a wire or unplugging it. Who knows wtf the last owner did to the car... Sounds like you need to give all the wiring a once over to see what has been changed and needs to be changed back to stock.

[NateS]

FIXED THE PROBLEM!

Turns out it looks like an aftermarket security device was installed under the steering column. It was a black box and I believe it had "starter disable" written somewhere on it along with some other stuff. The device was cut out and the wires were spliced together going to it. Now it starts up every time smoothly.

As for the white wiring with a resistor in it... I believe the owner before me had it rigged up to bypass the clutch switch. I guess he didn't realize you just had to unplug one of the two connectors. All of this wiring was removed as well.

The problem with the SAFC not reading the throttle position correctly seems to be from a loose connection at the TPS. The metal pin that holds the TPS harness to the TPS has gone missing so I need to either find one or make one.

[Blackcrow64]

Awesome man! Glad to hear you got it all straightened out!