Don't you love it when the OP never follows up. Nice when someone does some searching instead of starting a new thread.
Clutch switch, key switch, maybe starter itself or wiring. All are 15 years old. Hopefully problem stays until you find it.
Well...its been a couple of weeks, and I really wasn't interested in dealing with this, but I did, and found the problem. I have a bad starter. The reason why I have a bad starter, has me perplexed.. and it's making me relive the last few months and the things that I discovered along the way...
I had a brake job done a few months ago...i bought the parts from RockAuto and provided them to the guy that was going to put them on for me...he has a lift and all the tools to do it, so I thought it was going to be a good deal... not so much..
He called to tell me that none of the parts would fit, and that he was just going to get what he needed from Auto zone so he could get it done. I told him that those parts were ordered for my vehicle and that they were an upgrade brake kit..larger rotors, different calipers and pads. His response was they wouldn't fit, they weren't the same size as the ones coming off and that's why he would rather order the parts himself, so there wouldn't be any wrong parts ordered. I assured him they would fit..he insisted they wouldn't and informed me that this wasn't his first rodeo...
Long story, short...i sent them back...he called a couple of days later to tell me it was done..went to pick it up and drove less than 200 feet, tried the brakes and the pedal went to the floor...red brake warning light came on as well as amber brake light..put the car back in his driveway and told him to try again. .a week later he calls and tells me that he's done, and that he had to replace the master cylinder...( odd)... i go to pick it up and drive it home. Amber brake light comes on less than a mile down the road ...i call him and ask what's up with that...he said he didn't replace the pads, as they looked good to him...no new rotors..no new calipers.
For the next few days, I would get the constant amber brake light, and occasionally the red brake light on the dash...red brake light would come on when hard braking and turning on to freeway ramp. (Removing master cylinder reservoir cap and re-installing fixed this). I noticed a wire was off of one of the sensors that was connected to the Air filter box. I reconnected that..then i noticed that one of the 50 amp fuses on top of the battery was blown...it goes to the glow plugs... thought that was strange..
Then as I was troubleshooting the starting issue today, I removed the battery and the box, to gain access to the starter, to attach my remote starter switch...attached it, reconnected the battery...and nothing...checked resistance of the solenoid coil...1.9 Ohms...
Removed the starter...and then I noticed the braided wire from the post on the starter, where the positie wire from the battery attaches, that goes into the top rear of the starter, was burnt open. There were signs of arcing on the case. It appears that someone may have lost a socket or something metal, that lodged in between the braided wire and the case. .might not have burned all the way through initially, but the last few months the amp draw of the starter melted the rest..?? Won't be taking the car to that guy anymore... not my first rodeo either..just didn't want to deal with it on a floor jack and a gravel driveway... lesson learned