Hi all, my 2000 q45 is having starting issues. when I turn the key, most of the time nothing happens. the dash lights come on but there is no sound whatsoever. sometimes if i hold the key in the start position it will fire up, and sometimes it starts up after multiple tries of turning the key, however most of the time it does not start up at all. I think this is the starter solenoid but from what i read i have to remove the whole steering rack to take out the starter. is it possible at all to remove the solenoid from the starter without removing the rack? also i was informed - not sure if this is accurate - that this car has no starter relay so that could not be the problem. any help is appreciated thanks

starter fuse possibly?

fyi I first removed the entire starter plus solenoid and had it tested fine, THEN I found out it was just a lousy relay that went bad. removing the starter is absolute hell. I didn't drop the steering rack, you have to let the sway bar swing down from the end links. and curse a billion times while working (I have a punching bag in my garage for this purpose). oh and having the proper tools are absolutely nessesary if you are going to change the starter or just the solenoid.

I'm dam right sure a Y33 has a starter relay. it doesn't make sense not to have one.

i could be wrong,

im going to look for a repair manual today, do you know where the starter relay is located? Its not in the relay box under the hood...

one more thing... I was just able to start my car in Neutral which leads me to believe it is the inhibitor switch. both autozone and oriely's told me that there is no part for my car under "starter relay" i also found this on another forum:
"There is no starter relay for you 1997 Q. The start signal comes from the "Ignition Switch" trough the "Inhibitor Switch" to the "Starter Motor"
So if the inhibitor switch acts as a starter relay, and the fact the car can start in N, it could be a faulty inhibitor switch, correct?

that I don't know, I own a G50 of 94. but your flow of thought does make sense. replace the switch and see if it works

So after my last post I was going to try to get to the bottom of this starting issue. I figured next time it didnt start I would try to move it to Neutral again and see if it would start. If I was able to start it in Neutral after it not starting, it most likely would be the inhibitor switch (aka neutral safety switch). If it would not start in Neutral than most likely I could rule out a faulty Neutral safety switch, and most likely would in fact be my starter solenoid going out. However I have been driving it for the last 3 days and tried to repeatedly start it and stop it to the point that I felt I was unnecessarily wearing out my starter; but it starts up every time now. Im hesitant on just buying a new switch because they are about $100 and I am also hesitant to just buy a solenoid because of the work involved to get to the starter. Im sure this isnt a problem that will just go away forever, so when I do actually figure it out I will be sure to update this...

NateB29 wrote:So after my last post I was going to try to get to the bottom of this starting issue. I figured next time it didnt start I would try to move it to Neutral again and see if it would start. If I was able to start it in Neutral after it not starting, it most likely would be the inhibitor switch (aka neutral safety switch). If it would not start in Neutral than most likely I could rule out a faulty Neutral safety switch, and most likely would in fact be my starter solenoid going out. However I have been driving it for the last 3 days and tried to repeatedly start it and stop it to the point that I felt I was unnecessarily wearing out my starter; but it starts up every time now. Im hesitant on just buying a new switch because they are about $100 and I am also hesitant to just buy a solenoid because of the work involved to get to the starter. Im sure this isnt a problem that will just go away forever, so when I do actually figure it out I will be sure to update this...

I've had strong suspicions about the neutral switch, too.

Since the Y33 lacks a "starter relay" per se, the Park/Neutral Selector Switch carries all of the current required to energize the solenoid coil on the starter:



It's fused at 30 amps, so it's definitely carrying a decent amount of current - and that sounds like a recipe for trouble.

Adding a relay would reduce the current flowing through the Selector Switch to just a fraction of an amp, ensuring that the solenoid coil got full battery voltage - even if the contacts in the Selector Switch weren't in perfect shape.

Incidentally, there is no way in hell I'd remove the starter unless I was 100.0000 percent certain that it was the cause of the problem.

keep us posted

So after almost a month of no issues, it finally decided not to start today. After 3 tries of turning the ignition with no response, I shifted to neutral and it started right up. I think it is safe to say a faulty neutral safety switch is to blame so I am going to go ahead and order a new one and hopefully the install wont be so bad...

NateB29 wrote:After 3 tries of turning the ignition with no response, I shifted to neutral and it started right up. I think it is safe to say a faulty neutral safety switch is to blame

Maybe...

Or maybe that 4th try just happened to be the one where the starter decided to engage.

NateB29 wrote:im going to look for a repair manual today

You don't need to look far - you're already there. www.infinitiservicemanual.com

Exact same problem with my g50...thought it was the inhibitor...changed relay..intermittant start..just yesterday...it wouldnt start...hit the solenoid with hammer..no dice...switching it to neutral and back to park woukd wo it seemed to work......well...that wasnt the problem..the dam cheap autozone battery cable on the positive came loose and was not connected enough to turn the starter...i noticed it while having someone turn the keyand i saw the slo5ght spark on the positive wire...the moral of the story..90% of non start issues ive had in my life were either battery battery connector related...clean those posts and connectors..make sure the dam cable is on there tight or it wont start...start with the cheap and easy...took my several hours to find that problem. Jiggled the wire around and it started..took it off annd tightened it.....all good..duh

OK, no starter relay for Y33. Just starter solenoid. I just took the starter out today, no rack & pinion removal, no sway bar removal. Removed the 2 nuts holding the engine mount on each side, removed a bolt on one side of the strut tower bar (strut brace) and jacked up the oil pan a few inches. Gave me just enough clearance to pull the starter out between the oil pan and steering rack. I had to get creative positioning the starter different ways, cone nose first and the starter solenoid toward the center worked for me. The battery cable post on the solenoid was the tight squeeze. I did bend one of the steel power steering fluid lines slightly, the line looked rusty but didn't cause any leak. The new starter went back in the same way. Be sure to remove 10mm/M6 screws holding the wire loom and metal brackets in the area. I couldn't get the starter nose cone slide out far enough from the mounted position without removing these and the battery cable out of the way. Also, the starter was in there real tight. There wasn't much rust, but the starter cone nose was wedged in real tight and took a while with flathead screwdriver, ply bar, hammer and spray lubricant to get it out. Very limited space and took a while to get the cone nose out from the hole. Intake boot did come a part, might be wise to disconnect it ahead of time.