Dead on the side of the road
 

Actually in front of my office. I apparently have no juice going to the starter. Tried jumping-off but made no difference. There is no clicking or any noise from the starter. All electrical systems otherwise seem to work, with the exception of the buzzer that indicates whether the seatbelts are fastened. I am getting a high pitched hum in place of the normal wretched buzzer. Tried starting while moving the shifter from park to neutral to reverse, to drive, etc.

Don't see any fuses burned through, but that doesn't mean I missed one or that there is not a bad relay. Can't tell which relay is for the starter or whether the 30 amp fuse in the relay box is for the starter. Help! I'm catching a ride home to get on the motorcycle. Could this be related to the buzzer and the seatbelt seitch, or could it be the ignition module itself.

Are you sure that ALL other electrical components work okay? Have you put a voltmeter across the battery to see if there is anything at all in it?

If the headlights come on brightly, then for the short term consider the battery okay and measure voltage at the input to the starter solenoid while someone turns the key. If you have 11 volts or so at the solenoid when the key is turned, then the problem is the starter.

If your headlights are weak, have the battery load tested. Most anyone who sells batteries will do this for no fee.

If you have NO voltage at the solenoid then check your neutral safety switch and back track from there.

Good luck,

Thanks Larry. Hard to tell if the lights are BRIGHT since the car is in the sun. But the battery is either one or two years old. It could damn sure be that, but this month-old buzzer anomaly has me confused. Will check the voltage across the starter after the sun goes down a bit and I can get the voltmeter over here. Maybe I can get the service station across the way to come over and load test the battery. Will ride the bike over there and ask them face to face.

Enjoyed your post about the workshop. Wish my car was in there and you were working on it and I were fishin' on the back forty.

Yes and this is a heck of a time for fishing. My neighbor has larger and better ponds than I do. I can go to one of his about thirty minutes before dark with a Chartreuse spinner bait and hook a nice black bass. Once the heat hits that won't work any more.

Have a great day,

As a first diagnostic step I would try locking and unlocking the door from the passenger side.

I think the alarm can keep the starter from working on that year. I presume that since jumping it didn't help that it isn't a battery problem.

Of course the final answer is to find the open in the circuit between the good starter and the good battery. It would be easiest if the open was the relay keeping the starter from engaging when the alarm is set.

Thanks Steve. I may have found the offending component. The humming sound I heard was coming from a relay which I pulled and am researching to find the purpose. Going to the dealer in the morning for a replacement. If it's not it, they'll take it back. The part number is 201 821 00 47 or maybe 60 215 001. It's a twelve pin relay, about 3 1/2 x 2 x 1 inches. Will keep you posted.

That sounds like a possible ground fault. Check the negative battery terminal and grounding bolt (other end of negative cable).

Resolution
 

For the first time ever, that I can recall, I had a car towed today. I feel like I surrendered to the Iraqi insurgents.

Took my indy about an hour and a half to pull the instrument cluster and tighten up the ignition switch, then reassemble. Cost me a buck-seventy. If I had had the car in my garage I probably would have spent two days trying to figure out the problem. In two years I have now paid for this and a water pump. Not bad I guess. It hurts me to have to have it towed, though.

Thanks again for all the help.

It is interesting, your aversion to towing. I see this all the time in customers.

I very seldom keep a jack in the car as I would never fix a tire on the side of the road. I'm outa there and send the wrecker. Actually I haven't had a flat while driving since I was 16.

Be safe ... tow the car..

I certainly agree that towing is preferential to changing a tire on the side of the road. I haven't had a flat on the road since 1978, on my way to visit Auburn Univ. Since then, only slow leaks that could be plugged or patched. (That could be a new thread!) I've just been lucky that my cars haven't left me stranded. But as I type, I recall my 1990 Acura Legend when new and under warranty having to be towed. There was a faulty electrical component that was recalled, but I didn't "get the memo" until after the fact.

I think your point, be safe about where you change a tire, is well taken by all here.