Hello,
I have a 90 RS. Sometimes it will not start. The battery is good and so is the starter. I turn the key and nothing happens. It won't even turn over. I have had it in the shop 3 times for this, but they found nothing wrong. I was hoping maybe someone else has had this happen. When I put the key in and turn the switch, all my lights, even the radio comes on, but it will not turn over, not even a click on the starter.

Thanks

 

sounds like a low battery. my car does that sometimes and i have to jump it. it is annoying since i have a new battery, but idk there is a drain somewhere

 

Its not the battery. I was told it could be the Neutral Safety Switch or the Ignition Switch. Maybe someone else has had this happen.

Thanks

 

could be all of those things check the running of your positive and negative wires. make sure they havent grounded themselves to anything. then u have eliminated a couple things it could be. now you need to start replacing things so you can elinate other things. replce th NSS. then the ignition switch. you should probablycheck the connections on the starter. my truck used to have a problem similar to that.

 

Did the '90 RS come equipped with the PASS-Key system? If so maybe your key can't be read much or at all anymore.

 

none of my cars have that system. I think that they did I dont really know much about the RS model. all of my cars are older then 87

 

I found this cool link for you:



Maybe that'll help.

 

I had the exact same problem with my sons '89...it's the pass key system. Remove your drivers side kick panel, you will find a relay in there. When the key is turned, the resistor in the key triggers the relay by completing the negative side of the relay coil to ground, this allows the solenoid to engage. On his car, there is a seam at the bottom of the kickpanel inners that allowed water to splash up from the front wheel, I sealed it up with silicone. The insides and the contacts of the relay were corroded and the relay was actually full of water. A replacement relay is hard to find and it runs about $13. Some stores won't even have a listing, mine came from Advanced Auto. You will have to ask for a "security relay". Pep Boys never heard of it, neither did NAPA.

We went a step further, we removed the light on the dash marked "security", I then tied to the relay coil through a magnetic switch (Radio Shack)glued under the console between the power window switches. My son lays a magnet on the console and the car will start when the key is turned. His buddies think that its cool, and it was good enough for the Insurance discount because it's always active. They used to call this the "Silent System" from some company years back, that's where I got the idea.

Once your kick panel is removed, you should hear the relay clicking when you turn the key, it's pretty loud. If you get in a jam, drop me an email and I'll walk you through it if I can.

Good Luck....I spent quite a bit of time figuring this one out

 

Thanks HotRod53. I'm in the middle of replacing my starter switch on the steering column....NOT FUN. I can't get the old one out to put the new one in. The part your talking about...is it on top of the steering column by the starter switch? When I turn the key, I hear it engage. I will pay more attention to it tomorrow when I'm upside down under the dash trying to replace that dang switch...lol It only cost 13$ as well.

 

Well I replaced the starter switch on the steering column. Thought it solved my problem. Today......the same thing. I'm at my witts end with this thing. I'm gonna try HotRods theory and see how that turns out. I will post and let you all know how it turns out.