Starting issues

My wife's 99 has been giving her some starting problems. Every now and then it won't start. It won't even turn over. I thought it might be the starter, so that was replaced with a reman'ed piece from Trussville. It also has a fairly new Westco battery. It happened again this morning, so now I'm determined to track down the issue. The lights and everything are just as strong as before, so I don't believe it's the battery. Plus, when it does start, it cranks as strong as ever. Before I go tearing into the car, I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has run into a similar problem. Any ideas? Ignition switch perhaps?

Starter relay/solenoid...

When it won't start, do you even hear a click? If nothing, that's what I'd check next..

Mine does that. You mean no response after you turn the key? Just a click? I think that is the ignition switch. I usually pull the key out and try again and it works.

My wife says it clicks. I don't recall hearing a click when it happened to me once when I was moving the car out of the garage.

I'll look up the starter relay/solenoid in the manual tonight. That's what I was planning to check, unless I heard otherwise here. :) Where is this item located? I don't have the manual here with me at work.

It's on the side of the starter IIRC... My vote is on ignition switch or a bad connection.

Another thing would be to put the car on jackstands and check the ground connection on the power plant frame (the big aluminum bar that connects the differential to the transmission) as it may have a bad connection. That would be another big cause of not enough current flowing to start the car.

RJ

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

thing would be to put the car on jackstands and check the ground connection on the power plant frame (the big aluminum bar that connects the differential to the transmission) as it may have a bad connection. That would be another big cause of not enough current flowing to start the car.

RJ

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+1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

It's on the side of the starter IIRC... My vote is on ignition switch or a bad connection.

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Ah, that would have been replaced when I did the starter install not too long ago, so I certainly hope that's not it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by channelmaniac

Another thing would be to put the car on jackstands and check the ground connection on the power plant frame (the big aluminum bar that connects the differential to the transmission) as it may have a bad connection. That would be another big cause of not enough current flowing to start the car.

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I'll look at the PPF tonight and ensure that the ground is sufficient.

Thanks for all the help guys! I really appreciate it. The Miata has been a solid car except for this little issue. I need to change the shocks and install a new clutch sometime soon as well. :)

I had the same problem. I swapped the ignition switch with another and it fixed the problem.

You might try cleaning it first.

I searched, but I obviously didn't use the right search words! Thanks for the links.