Pontiac Repair: 99 sunfire, starter trouble, starter solenoid, purple wire

Question
hey Todd, i just purchased a 99 sunfire used and tonight i went out to start it and it fired up ran about 30 seconds and died, so i went to start it again and the starter just clicks, so i checked the connections on the battery and they were loose so i tightened them down and tried to restart it and i'm still getting a click, i'm wondering if i should be looking for a ground or something else

Answer
Hey justine. It could be a couple of things. If the solenoid clicks but the starter will not crank it is more than likely a bad stater motor. tap on the motor with a screwdriver and a hammer while someone tried to crank it over. The starter may have a bad spot on it and by jaring it it get's it off that dead spot and it will crank over. You could have an issue with a bad crank signal to the starter from the ignition switch. if it's not getting full battery voltage to the solenoid on that small purple wire it will act like a bad starter. If you have a volt meter check the voltage on that wire when the car is being cranked it should be pretty much near battery voltage. That car was involved in a recall for the ignition siwtch as well that recall part may have gone bad it is a relay kit for the starter solenoid it should be mounted on the top of the radiator cross suppoort near the battery. just a few ideas to try. Good luck :)