sometimes I turn the key and nothing happens. I took the car to the dealer and they said it was the starter so I replaced the starter 1 week ago. today I went to start the car turned the key and nothing happened. turned the key to the off positon and went back to the start position and again nothing happened. I removed the key from the ignition and reinserted the key and it started. i got to my destination. I shut off the car. I came back to the car 3 hrs later inserted the key and turned it to the start position and nothing happened went to the off position and start position several times and nothing happened. then I removed the key and re inserted it a couple of times until it started. I drove home and shut off the car and tried to start the car again and it started normally. tried it several more times and it was ok.

P.S. about a month ago I took the car to the dealer because of an ignition switch recall. When i took the car to the dealer for the start problem, i told them i thought the ignition switch they replaced was bad. they said they did not replace the ignition switch and they actually added a piece of plastic to it and had nothing to do with the starting problem. any ideas please. thanks

 

is it cold when it doesn't start? maybe your battery terminals are corroded? im not trying to insult your intelligence but some people overlook the easy solutions. including myself

 

Is this an automatic or manual transmission? Is there a security system installed on this car?

 

the battery terminals are clean. the battery is a week old. the car is an automatic. lx 4 cyl. no after market alarm. what ever comes standard on the car. its not cold. im in south florida

 

You need to figure out if you have a problem with the starter or the signal to the starter.

What I would do is connect a 12V test light to the smaller terminal on the starter (Blk/wht wire?) and connect the other end of the wire for you bulb to ground. I would use enough wire to feed the bulb to a spot where you can see it from sitting in your driver's seat.

If you have an assistant, you can them check for 12V using a volt meter on that smaller wire, while you try to start the car.

The bulb should turn on, and the starter should start turning the engine. Let us know what you find when the car is not starting.

 

I replaced the starter a week ago. I will use a test light to check for voltage tomorrow. If there is no voltage where do I go next.

Thank you so much for your help and quick response

 

The next step would be to test at the starter cut relay. Just take one step at a time to figure out what is next.

 

You might get back to a flaky ignition switch. But take it one step at a time & diagnose instead of throwing random parts at it.

 

I started the car with the test light hooked up and it lit up in the start position, but the car started. I can not make it fail no matter how many times I turn the key it starts. very fustrating

 

You'll have to be patient and catch it when it is not starting. At least you are setup to quickly figure out the next step.