QuestionRoland,
i have been searching throughout your site trying to get some answers and can't seem to find, hope you can help. my 97 sebring started running hot and when i got it home i tried to cool it off while still running with the water hose, it finally cooled down and i was able to remove the radiator cap and continue cooling the engine. all this time the car was running, after temp got to normal i turned the car off (big mistake) now it will not start. lights,wipers,gauges,radio all work i pulled the relay switches that you reccommended in previous answers because fuse # 8 had been blown now it's fine , i dont know how to check the ignition to see if it is faulty, and i have tried to locate the reset button that is supposedly under the carpet on the drivers side of the car. what could be causing the starter to not engage, there is power going to it. all of this happened several days ago so all water has evaporated. also i replaced the starter only to find that the one that i removed works perfectly. please help. also is it possible to start the car bypassing the ignition switch.
AnswerHi Jesse,
If fuse 8 is ok then when a helper tries the ignition key you ought to feel/hear the starter relay click. If you don't then the park/neutral switch may be off-center from its detent position so move the shift lever to either side of detent and try again. If that isn't the answer then you will want to test for voltage at various pins of the relay socket with the relay removed.
The start postition of the ignition switch is what applies 12V to the front pin of the relay socket. To test electrically, verify that you have 12V (from fuse 8) on the inboard pin socket of the relay, and 12V on the front pin of the socket when the helper tries 'start', and that the rear pin show a short to ground (i.e., 0 ohms to ground);that is the 'action' of the p/n safety switch. Under those conditions when you put the relay back in it should click and send 12v on the outbouad pin to the brown wire at the starter solenoid which should respond with a loud click and starter action.
If the relay does produce an audible click but no starter action, then chect the brown wire at the starter to see if it shows 12V when the relay clicks. If it doesn't then the wire is loose/open or the switch points in the relay are burnt. If the relay clicks and and the solenoid clicks but no action from the motor then either the power wire from the battery is poorly connected or the solenoid is bad or the starter itself is bad.
To test the relay output to starter function (and by-pass the ignition switch) just jump a wire from the inboard pin to the outboard pin of the relay socket which replicates the action of the relay's points. The 12v on the front pin of the socket (or not) is the test of the igntion switch function.
Roland
