Truck Not Starting

[Crawdaddy]

My roommate's 2003 S-10 is having an odd problem. It's a manual tranny with the 4 cylinder engine. When she goes to start it up after it hasn't been running for a while, it does not want to start up. You hold the clutch down and turn the key, and while the lights on the dash goes out when you turn the ignition to the start position, the starter doesn't work, or even click. It takes about a dozen tries to get the starter to start turning. I haven't tried getting under the truck to tap the starter yet, but my other roommate and I are guessing it's either the ignition switch, the starter solenoid, or the clutch switch. We think we have ruled out the clutch switch. When you hold the clutch in, and keep trying, eventually it will work. Cycling the clutch does not seem to help speed up sucess. So, any ideas or opinoins? Thanks.

[Cableguy]

Starter solenoid. Thats pretty much it from what you described.

[Dj Friction]

You know....this might be crazy.....but it just happened to me yesterday on the 85'

Check the ground cable on the battery!!!

I got home from work and then went out to move the Sub.....and nothing!!! I found that some corrosion got between the ground cable on the battery....

I moved it a little and Started........I then gave both a good cleaning and retightening.....

Just a Thought!!!

[unplugged]

Ignition switches usually last longer than 4 years, but it is suspect. Top of the list is the solenoid. Pull the starter/solenoid assembly and trot it down to your local AutoZone or equivalent for testing. btw, it is my opinion that it is never a good idea to crank a starter with low current levels. A weak battery causes arcing at the solenoid contacts and between the brushes and stator. Burnt contact points lead to hard starting. Replace a weak battery as soon as possible to prevent other troubles from cropping up.