This seems stupid, but I'm having difficulty finding a definitive answer on where the starter relay is. I suspect it's one of the three small relays in a row on the upper firewall, passenger side...but which one?

Having an intermittent starting problem, and my first inclination is to temporarily swap in another relay and see if that fixes it, but need to know for sure which one it is, and don't want to pull the fuel pump relay or something similarly critical as the substitute. I suspect the relay may be the issue, as I often get a little hum and low clicking sound when it fails to crank, but not the typical louder "ratchetting" clicking from the starter that is common with a weak battery (battery is new). If it doesn't start right away, it usually does after cycling the ignition switch a few times.

If it's not the relay, I'll move on to checking ignition switch, gear selector position switch, & other usual suspects & etc., but figured the relay is the easiest/quickest thing to check...if I know which one it is!

Thanks!

 

You are correct that it's one of the three on the firewall, but I don't know which one. Look for the one with a purple wire.

 

Late update, have been off that project for a while...Swapped out the left (passenger) and right (driver side) relays (I think the right is the starter per some info I found elsewhere on this site), cleaned blades on both, & sprayed with contact cleaner, along with their mating parts of the connectors, although neither looked corroded. So far, that seems to have cured the problem. I don't use this car often, so haven't tested it much, or driven it too far from home. Probably will just get a spare relay and keep it in the glove box, just in case.

Now to replace the heater core, when I find the time :-(

 

Thanks for the update!

Glad its working, good luck with the heater core swap... they aren't fun lol