Over the past 3 days, my car gave up normal starting all together. It done it's usual thing --the starter turns the engine rapidly, but no spark or fuel. I resorted to "pop starting" it, and it started right up every time --never fail. I finally got my starter and replaced it last night while I was at work. The car fired right up the first time, and has started good since. I have noticed that it now starts a little sooner than it had before.
To share my symptoms:
First of all, the car would start fine in 70-80 degree weather, but if I drove it somewhere, and shut it off, the little bugger wouldn't restart. The thing would seem to turn-over fine, but there would be no spark or fuel. The car then would start whenever it felt the need to. It done this all last summer and when October came, and it got cool out; the car would not start at all. It finally started again this spring. I changed it's coil, cap, rotor, battery, and DME relay. I suspected either the starter or DME. I tried knocking on the DME while starting it, and it started. I promptly replace the DME, but the problem was still there, and if I knocked on it; it would sometimes start too. One day I happened to be on an incline, so I tried "pop starting" it --it worked, and since then, the car never failed to "pop start". I then suspected the starter. Although it was turning the engine over at a healthy speed, and didn't seem to be "dragging"; the starter had an aged tone to it. I now believe it was depriving the DME of the voltage required to function while it was turning the engine. This thing had been a thorn in my side for the past 18 months, and I'm very glad it's over.
J Swiss