Issue once cold hit

[Andrew King]

Well I have 90' acclaim and it worked great until it got colder out, Now when i go to turn the key it has one click and nuthin, after a couple tries it will start or on the odd occasion it will fire up first try any suggestions what it could be?

[Jason Harwood]

Something in me says main relay.

Other things in my say, how old is the battery

[Andrew King]

less than 9 months old

[Jason Harwood]

Tap the starter with a positive lead from the battery.
See if it turns right away.

If it does, i'd say you've got a bad relay.

[Andrew King]

What do you mean a positive lead?

[Jason Harwood]

What do you mean a positive lead?

Take a wire from the battery positive right to the starter, it will turn aslong as its grounded properly.
This way you rule out the starter, which means its a connection from the starter to the ignition and its NOT power related.

(Ignition switch, relay, fuses) gives you a better place to look for issues.

[Andrew King]

sp just grab a wire and connect it to top positivr terminal and right to starter?

[Jason Harwood]

Maybe im under estimating your car skills.

Seek help of an technically inclined friend lol.

Or if you're in the area of bby I can lend you a hand.

[Trevor Robinson]

also check power connetions on both battery and the starter itself for corrosion and clean appropropratly

[Jordan Kruger]

Does the engine turn over when it doesnt start?   or does it do nothing?

It could be the signs of a dying starter. depending on the model of starter, it could have some "sweet spots" where it functions normally, and other spots where it wont go.

[Brett Haviland]

my money is on the Neutral saftey switch!!!

but check the starter too! 


if the NSS doesnt work... it wont allow the car to crank..

[Andrew King]

it doesnt crank when key is turned, One clck the nothing.

[johnking]

Yea sounds like a starter relay bud

[Greg Durban]

it doesnt crank when key is turned, One clck the nothing.

Used to happen to me the odd time and it would always be a loose cable on the battery. Make sure to check that they're tight.

[John Hartman]

+1 on Greg.

if it tries once, but then just clicks, and the dash lights all go dim, its because the starter took all the juice outta the battery.  Well not exactly, it took what it could thru a weak connection and overloaded it.

Pull off both connections, make sure they are clean, flat and can make good connection, then re tighten them up nice and snug.

That kind of car has a fairly old fashioned battery post design so its simple and easy to see, plus its pretty robust.

Check the other end of the ground wire and positive wire too.

Attach a test light to the small power terminal on the starter(and grounded on the other end) and have someone try to crank it.  If it lights up while they are in the crank position, everything from the key to the starter is good, you can eliminate that.

If it still tries to crank, its either the power cable, the ground cable(main, big ones) or the starter itself.  you can run your own power and ground cables if you want to to eliminate those.