1993 - Wont start - common issues? Help?

[takuya]

So my sister in law has been having issues with her '93 Legacy 2.2L - Automatic, for the last number of months. I guess that back in January it began to fail to start when she turned the key. They replaced the starter and it went away for awhile. They replaced it again in May after the same thing started happening again. And, from what I understand, it went away for a week or two (most likely it wasnt even the cause, and it just didnt come up for a week or two.)

 

Now, within the last 3 weeks, they replaced the starter (NEW, not refurbished), found that the alternator was bad, so I replaced that (refurb), and then the battery also (Die Hard Gold). Its been running ok since Monday (battery replacement day) but then today, BAM - wont start again. Jump starting doenst do anything (obviously - new battery) and it will start randomly.

 

The start clicks, but it just wont turn over.

 

I thought maybe it was the neutral safety switch, but the starter clicks in neutral and in park, but not the other gears. I checked all the electrical connections, grounds and positives and all seems to be in order.

 

Any ideas, or known problems that I might be able to look into? Its pretty frustrating, as she has put over 400 bucks into the electrial system now and it still isn't working.

 

 

EDIT:

Shortly after I began to type this, I went back outside to check something. She has this strange wiring setup hooked into the ignition. It appears to be some sort of starter disable/security deal. There is a slide out card with a key ring hole on it and when it is out, you cant start the car. The starter doesnt even click. When you put it back in the slot, it clicks (the starter) but wont turn over. I dont know yet if it was coincidence or not, but I got under the dash and pulled out the wiring to see what it all was about. There is a relay up in there and 4 wires connected to it (I imagine three are ground, ignition lead and constant) and once I was done fiddling with the relay, I tried to start it again and it worked. It hasnt acted up since, so I am just waiting until it happens again to see if fiddling with those wires again will fix it. If so, maybe that relay is going out? All the wiring looks very well done with great contacts, but if something in that relay is failing, would it affect the ignition system? The only thing that still troubles me with this possible cause, is that the starter was most definitely trying to engage when the car wouldnt start and this thing appears to be a starter disable system of some sort. If I am rambling I apologize, I hope you all can make sense of this and offer some insight.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.