My FC just refused to start at work, got it home and now it works. :(
 

I couldnt' get my car to turn over after work today (it worked just fine when I went to lunch but was a sluggish turning over this morning and at lunch) so my dad stopped by and we tried jumping the car which made no difference at all.

I tried bypassing the clutch switch with a jumper wire, checked the fuses but the start wouldn't engage. Turning my headlights on and turning the key only resulted in a very slight dim.

We did get it going by giving it a push and popping the clutch in second at which point it fired right up and was driving fine all the way home. I powered it off, then turned the key again and it turned right over at a normal speed.

I then hit my fuel cutoff switch and kept turning it over and it didn't stop once.

Now I'm trying to determine what the problem is. I haven't checked the wiring since I got home but I'm suspecting either a loose wire or a dead relay. The starter wouldn't be dead if it works just fine now, right?

Sounds like the battery was low and didn't have the energy needed to build enough compression to start, despite the jump. After you push started it the battery got charged up on the way home.

Think so? I haven't ran the battery too low to start it before, but don't most cars at least dim the headlights or the starter clicks when the battery is too low?

Or is it that the FCs have a cut-off or the start can't turn the flywheel and remains silent?

I'm sure someone else has a better answer for the relay/cut off switch things. The dim headlights and the fact that it started easily once it was driven home just screams battery to me.

sounds like your starter is on the brink of destruction. Did the car click or anything when you tried to start it?

I didn't get any clicks, just nothing like it wasn't getting juice.

Is there a solinoid or relay for the starter anywhere in the dash, or is it built into the starter? The FSM doesn't mention a solinoid, but the starter does have that magnetic swith which could take it's place. I'm just trying to eliminate everything possible before pulling junk off. :D

I'm currently charging my battery right now. I got home from work (didn't drive my FC) and it turned over, but was really slow again. It's a newer battery so I'm pretty sure some piece of crap component is sucking juice overnight. I'll have to grab the multimeter and go over ever fuse in the box to see what's draining now. :(

In the mean time I'm just gonna stick the charger on it every night and let it top it off and see if the starter problem goes away, otherwise I'll snag one from one of the local guys.

The same thing happend to me when my starter went out. It would start, but start really slowly. It got worse and worse untill it wouldn't start. I just figures it was a bad battery so i checked my battery and charged it. Still did the same thing. Figured it must be the starter. Replaced the starter, fixed my problem.

sounds like the starter, most likely the solenoid. one day i pulled into a 711 and it wouldnt start when i came out. new battery didnt fix it. would start if you let it sit for a few hours. finally just replaced the whole starter assembly and it fixed it.