Sometimes Car Will No Crank, No Start and Leave Me Stranded for a While.

Your saying the starter won't crank? Check for voltage at the starter circuit when the problem is ongoing. Check ground also. A testlite to check for voltage doesn't cost much.

If the starter has brushes, you can tap on the starter with a hammer, while a helper tries to crank it. If you get any action by tapping, may be a faulty starter?

Any testing at the starter, make sure the tranny is in park or neutral and functional parking brake is set. Here is wiring diagrams, any questions just ask.

First lets be clear on the symptoms. You're describing a no-crank condition which does include the neutral safety switch but not the camshaft position sensor. The cam sensor could cause a crank-but-no-start condition. If you can cycle the ignition switch from "run" to "crank" multiple times, and eventually the starter cranks the engine, that is typical of a starter solenoid problem, but there are still different symptoms and causes. Most commonly arced and worn contacts cause the intermittent no-crank, but you'll hear a single, rather loud clunk from the starter each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank". A similar problem can be caused by a frayed or corroded battery cable.

The second problem is a lot more rare. There are two coils of wire in the solenoid. The magnetic fields from both of them are needed to move the solenoid's plunger to engage the ring gear, then one is switched off because only the other coil's magnetic field is needed to hold it there. If one of those coils has a break, the single magnetic field from the other one may not be strong enough to move the plunger. The symptom is you have 12 volts on the solenoid terminal but it doesn't engage or make any sound. One clue is it may act up more often in cold weather due to the battery being less able to supply current, and any grease on the starter drive is thicker. Another potential clue is very often it will crank with a jump-start because of the higher voltage.

The place to start is to get it to act up, then measure the voltage on the starter's smaller solenoid terminal when a helper turns the ignition switch to "crank". If you find 12 volts there, the rest of the circuitry is working. If you don't, you can verify the starter is okay by using a heavy jumper wire to apply 12 volts there from the battery's positive terminal.

Caradiodoc
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Does your foot also have to be on the brake for this car to start? If so you may have a brake switch loose or going bad. Otherwise check for continuity through the neutral switch with it installed and the car in park. If none, check it in drive. It should be opposite from park. Then id check for wires that might be damaged in the column especially if you've got tilt steering. Your starter works so like you I doubt its the problem

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