No crank... starter works fine with a jump?

My car won’t crank, but when I jump the starter solenoid directly, it works fine. The battery is good, and the headlights don’t dim when I turn the key. I swapped relays but still no luck. Anyone know what might be going on?

Sounds like it could be a voltage drop somewhere. Have you checked the small wire on the solenoid for power when you turn the key?

Honor said:
Sounds like it could be a voltage drop somewhere. Have you checked the small wire on the solenoid for power when you turn the key?

I had a similar issue, and it turned out to be a bad connection in the fuse box. Worth checking!

@Leandro
Thanks for the tip! I’ll inspect the fuse box and see if anything looks off.

Could it be the ignition switch? I’ve seen that cause no-crank issues before.

Kai said:
Could it be the ignition switch? I’ve seen that cause no-crank issues before.

Good point. Ignition switches can definitely cause problems like this.

Jason said:

Kai said:
Could it be the ignition switch? I’ve seen that cause no-crank issues before.

Good point. Ignition switches can definitely cause problems like this.

I hadn’t considered that. I’ll test the switch next.

Did you check the ground connections? A loose or corroded ground can cause this.

Tamara said:
Did you check the ground connections? A loose or corroded ground can cause this.

I checked the battery ground, but I’ll double-check the other ones. Thanks!

I had this happen once. It was the starter relay itself, even though it seemed fine at first.

Jacobmartins said:
I had this happen once. It was the starter relay itself, even though it seemed fine at first.

I swapped it with a few others, but I’ll try replacing it entirely just to be sure.

There’s a video online about a similar issue. They mention something about a gauge wire connection causing voltage drop.

Kevin said:
There’s a video online about a similar issue. They mention something about a gauge wire connection causing voltage drop.

Yeah, I saw that video too. It’s a bit vague, but I’ll look into the wiring more closely.