# Really puzzling starter problem



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Nothing is what I know, but observations .
When you start a car things like radio and turn signals stop getting power.
So there might be a connection here with your other problems.
If you have the key on you have power to jump.
Do you have power to jump when you turn the key to start. Or is that power turning off somewhere.


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## Rick63 (Aug 10, 2017)

Thanks for your reply Neal! When I turn the key on I get the dash lights and radio. When I go to start dash lights and radio go off. Just found that i can start the car by jumpering the the relay with the key on. Just won't do it when I turn the key to start. It seems like it would be a bad relay but it's not. I have tested the relay. And i have swapped the relay with every other like relay. I am baffled.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Rick63 said:


> Thanks for your reply Neal! When I turn the key on I get the dash lights and radio. When I go to start dash lights and radio go off. Just found that i can start the car by jumpering the the relay with the key on. Just won't do it when I turn the key to start. It seems like it would be a bad relay but it's not. I have tested the relay. And i have swapped the relay with every other like relay. I am baffled.


 Yes but is that power still there when you turn the key to start. 
Or for some reason is it turning off like the radio and things. 
Can you rig a test light where you are jumping and see if it stays on when you turn the key to start.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Maybe.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

ron45 said:


> Maybe.


 But he has wipers and things and he has intermittent problems with those. 
I think it is a problem in what ever turns them off while he is starting the car. But I am just guessing.:sad:


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## Rick63 (Aug 10, 2017)

Thanks for the video! I did check the fuse and it was good I put in a fresh one anyway. That was my first idea too. The relay stays on with key to start.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

A loose ground somewhere, can and will manifest itself somewhere else, that one might think unrelated. 


Has this car ever been in a collision, and possibly repaired wrong, or ever been in a flood, or had a rough life, lots of BUMPY dirt roads, to shake things loose. 

I once chased down a problem similar to yours, where the actual switch mounted on the column was a bit loose, and would operate correctly today, but tomorrow it would need looked at, and I finally found the nut holding the switch ( not the key cylinder), loose and the switch was sliding on road bumps. 

Tightened it, and the "gremlin" disappeared.


ED


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

My son had a Pontiac with an intermittent problem with the fuel pump for years. 
At one point we pulled the key cylinder and found a spring loaded level in the hole out of place. Put that back together properly and all kinds of stuff that had never worked came to life.


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## Rick63 (Aug 10, 2017)

Thanks! That is just where I was going next. I'm going to take the covers off the steering colum tomorrow and see if anything looks wacky around the ignition switch. I'll post results.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Rick63 said:


> Thanks! That is just where I was going next. I'm going to take the covers off the steering colum tomorrow and see if anything looks wacky around the ignition switch. I'll post results.


 Are you sure there isn't a relay that turns stuff on and off when you are starting.?


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## Rick63 (Aug 10, 2017)

I'm thinking it all goes through the ignition. The radio, the wipers both go through the switch so I'll start there.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

I don't gamble, but if I did it would be on Ed's mention of a ground. They're not necessarily the easiest things to find, and often overlooked, but not all that uncommon.


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