I am proudly the new owner of a 1998 sc2 with the 1.9 twin cam motor and a manual transmission. the problem I am having is that when I initially bought the car it was believed the neutral safety switch was not letting the starter turn over, meaning the only way it would start is if it was push started but now that I have driven the car home when I push the clutch in and turn it over it catches maybe once or twice and the rest of the time it makes a slight grinding noise. the starter was replaced a year and a half ago. is it possible the starter was put in wrong? what could be causing this problem?

 

Check

Battery (cars do not need a battery to be good to run)
Positive battery cable (corroded replace) otherwise clean and tighten
Negative battery cable (clean and tighten)
Edited by: sw2cam

 

I have taken the starter and the battery to advance autoparts and had them checked. both were working properly. I am starting to think it might be a bad neutral safety switch or a bad ignition switch. any ideas?

 

Could be corrosion nside the positive cable too. Very common.

 

the battery cables seem to be fine. the car does have a new starter but do you think it could be a bendix problem?

 

I took a video of my friend attempting to start the car yesterday and finally got it uploaded. I thought it might help if you could hear the problem. heres the link. http://s518.photobucket.com/albums/u...ux/?action=vie w&current=08-17-08_1753.flv

 

That sounds like a starter problem. Sounds like the solenoid either isnt fully engaging the teeth on the flywheel ro its not disengaging quick enough. Could also not be enough current to properly operate the solenoid.