Bad Starter Relay?

[Junior05]

I was tuning up my '05 660 today and it would not restart after shutting it down. It would take a while for it to get any juice, even to turn on the lights. Then all of a sudden it would get power, but would not turn the motor over, just a clicking noise heard from the starter relay. The battery was not drained (producing well over 12v) I got my multimeter out and noticed that I wouldn't get 12v from the red output lead on the relay until a few minutes after sitting. When I got the 12v, I would hit the start button, hear a click and the voltage would just drop off (from the output lead on the relay, not the battery itself). After beating on it for a while it came back to life and started from then on. Anyone have this problem before. I just want to make sure I am going to be replacing the correct part. Thanks in advance.

[aaronqjones]

Dude, I am having the same problem, only mine will not turn on. It will start to crank one out of eight times but never turn over.

[LT250_JOE]

12V DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN A BATTERY IS GOOD. IT MAY HAVE 12 VOLTS(SHOULD BE 12+) BUT HAVE MINIMAL AMPERAGE.
TRY A FRIENDS BATTERY, OR JUMPER CABLES FROM A CAR THAT IS NOT RUNNING(BE CAREFUL) AND SEE IF IT HELPS PROBLEM

[QuadManiac]

Originally posted by LT250_JOE
12V DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN A BATTERY IS GOOD. IT MAY HAVE 12 VOLTS(SHOULD BE 12+) BUT HAVE MINIMAL AMPERAGE.
TRY A FRIENDS BATTERY, OR JUMPER CABLES FROM A CAR THAT IS NOT RUNNING(BE CAREFUL) AND SEE IF IT HELPS PROBLEM

True.... sort of. If the voltage on the CABLES is at 12V when just sitting and no less than 10V when cranking it's fine. By "minimal amperage" Joe is suggesting that the voltage will drop significantly under load if the battery is not well charged or it is on it's last legs. THat's NOT the problem here, you claim that it WILL turn the motor over sometimes.

I suspect your relay is bad. Your description says that the large drop in voltage is across the relay, not from the battery. When the failure occurs again, short across the relay terminals with a large screwdriver (big spark). If the starter turns over you have the solution... bad relay.

Good Luck!