1990 M30 failure to start

[nwebster]

Hi,

my daughter's 1990 M30 failed to start only 30 min after I had started the car. The engine did not crank and the starter did not appear to turn. The starter relay is okay so I can rule out the theft relay, but there is no voltage getting to the starter solenoid. I checked the manual and a likely culprit could be the inhibitor switch. I looked for the leads connecting to the inhibitor switch on the side of the transmission. The manual shows leads coming from the switch. However I could not find any leads on my switch. I tried bypassing the switch by jumping directly to the lead that goes to the solenoid but still no luck - so the starter motor may be bad. I have been reading some postings about stuck solenoids that suggested hitting the starter and solenoid.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Nick