Car refuses to turn over, then starts like a charm

[INF3RN0666]

Hey,

I've been having these incidents on my 2000 impala where I would get in the car, and put the key in and turn it to "on". All the lights are nice and bright, fuel pump engages (builds pressure), etc. Sometimes, I turn the key to "start", and it starts in a second. Sometimes, I just hear a click (a relay) and all the lights shut off but the car won't turn over. Then I'd try turning the key back and forth to try and start it, but it won't respond. Suddenly, I'll try again and it'll start in a second without effort.

Initially, I thought it was the battery, so I test the voltage and got a slightly low reading of 12.3V. However, the fact that the lights are bright and it turns over quickly make me think that it's not a bad battery. I'm not sure how I would test the starter, but doesn't a bad starter take a while to turn the car over before it starts? Then I thought it might be the ignition switch. Or maybe the ignition relay.

Can anyone help me out please. Is it any of the things I mentioned (battery, starter, etc) or is there something I'm missing? How would I go about testing it?

[2.2 Straight six]

sounds like a bad relay.

[INF3RN0666]

Any idea how I would test that with a multimeter or do I just replace it and see if the problem is fixed within the next few days?

[mechamaz]

wipe clean all posts. it sounds like a false contact. mke sure all cables are tight and clean.- let me know morw