I've had issues with the car all summer, but for lack of time and money I never got to them.

It wasn't unusual that after long/spirited drives the car wouldn't want to turn on for a few min or until it cooled down enough. I've always heard of this problem with 2gnts and the starter heat problems.

Well it got weird when the car would take 2-3 tries to start after i got out of work 8hrs later. I would turn the key and the fuel pump would prime but the starter didn't make a single noise. With a few prayers and a little time it started every time. My daily commute was an hour each way. So when I got home and turned off the car, I didn't try to start it up again until the next day.

Now after the summer, I got home one sunday afternoon, and parked my car in my driveway since the was no parking on the street. A few hours later I was asked to move my car so we could park the van in the driveway, lo and behold it never started, and it's been sitting there since.

No battery light, radio and lights all work fine. As I mentioned above the car had started perfectly a few hours before, and the drive I made has only to church which is less than 2 miles away.

I keep reading on how to jump the starter directly to the battery but they always mention 2 posts which I don't see on the starter of my RS. I'm about to take my battery to VatoZone and get that tested for shits and giggles. Then move onto the started, and maybe take that out.

I have a set of jumper cables I can use, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to jump the starter, if any one could explain that, I would be thankful and would make the diagnosis easier.

Thanks in advance, from an old prodigal 2GNT son.

It might be the starter. Mine went on me with no warning. Fine one day, and when I woke up to go to work, nothing. All the accesories worked, but the car would not crank. Try to get the starter tested.

Hey Ed!

I've had similar issues before. Usually it was bad battery cables. Even though I keep my terminals clean enough to eat off of, sometimes the cables themselves can get oxidized or corroded down inside making the resistance really high. Everything else would function normally, but the starter wouldn't crank.

You can pull the battery and the starter and take them to your local parts store to have them tested, but I doubt that's really the issue. Cut open the jacketing on your cables that run from the battery to the starter about 2-3" from the battery. If the copper wire is anything other than bright copper after the first inch the wires are toast and can't get enough power to the starter to kick it over.

White = corrosion
Green or black = corrosion combined with oxidization
Red = overheated wire (REALLY SCARY, look for shorts in the starting circuit)

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
Hey Ed! I've had similar issues before. Usually it was bad battery cables. Even though I keep my terminals clean enough to eat off of, sometimes the cables themselves can get oxidized or corroded down inside making the resistance really high. Everything else would function normally, but the starter wouldn't crank. You can pull the battery and the starter and take them to your local parts store to have them tested, but I doubt that's really the issue. Cut open the jacketing on your cables that run from the battery to the starter about 2-3" from the battery. If the copper wire is anything other than bright copper after the first inch the wires are toast and can't get enough power to the starter to kick it over. White = corrosion Green or black = corrosion combined with oxidization Red = overheated wire (REALLY SCARY, look for shorts in the starting circuit)

Just took the starter and battery to Autozone, the starter passed the test, but the guys there had told me before that it could still be bad, since the testing machine puts no load on the starter motor it just powers it.

The battery test was weird, they told me it didn't say if it was bad or good, but it said it had a low charge, so I left it to trickle charge.

I'll start looking deeper once I get the battery back, I don't wanna start cutting stuff until I have to. Weird thing is that I took out the battery and the starter, and connected the + & - of the battery to the + & - posts on the starter and nothing happened, but when they put it on the machine, it spun. I was using flimsy 20ga wire from a PSU i took apart though, would that matter?

How do I look for shorts on the starter circuit? The only things that are exposed are the connectors to ground and power on the outside of the starter.

I'm kinda scared that it won't be the battery or the starter and that I might be in deep shit.

20ga wire wouldn't pass enough current to even kick the bendix out on the starter.

The battery was probably a little weak from sitting for a while, and in my experience 95% of the time a starter that passes the bench test is just fine.

Check your wires man. Just slice the jacketing open a few inches lengthwise so that you can peel it open. If the wires are good take a little electrical tape to them and seal them back up and you're good to go.

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
20ga wire wouldn't pass enough current to even kick the bendix out on the starter. The battery was probably a little weak from sitting for a while, and in my experience 95% of the time a starter that passes the bench test is just fine. Check your wires man. Just slice the jacketing open a few inches lengthwise so that you can peel it open. If the wires are good take a little electrical tape to them and seal them back up and you're good to go.

for sure i'll do that. I'll post once I get the battery back.

PRAISE THE LORD! ####!

Hehehe, you guys might laugh, I was giggling like a 15yr old girl at a justin beiber concert.

SO I put the battery back, VatoZone said it was fine, and so was the starter.

I turn the key and nothing... I kick the clutch in angry and turn the key again and VROOOOOM!!!!

So I'm like O_o hmmmmmmmmmm.

I get down on the floor mat of the car, and look for the clutch safety button, press it with my hand and turn the key with the other: VROOOOM!!!

Now im like (^-^)!

Tried it a few more times, and it turned on every time.

Now I just need to tackle the other problem, the RPM jumping from 1-2k non stop. I'll post a WTB: IAC in the sales section.

I'm not telling my family about this, so I can keep the car in the driveway until I get the idle fixed :D

I made some time to get the CEL code today. I also found that Autozone doesn't lend the code scanners any more.

So I took out the gauge cluster and put one of the turn signal bulbs in the CEL light hole, because I took the CEL bulb a long time ago.

Codes retrieved were 12 & 25, "PCM power disconnected recently" & "IAC Motor Harness" correspondingly.

So it is the IAC, now I'll just inspect the harness, and if that looks fine I'll order a new IAC off ebay for $20, found one with lifetime warranty :shrug: