99 civic dx, starter wont crank or even click

Car was running and starting fine then last night it just quit cranking.
When you turn key to ON all the lights come on and when you turn to START
nothing happens. No click, nothing. Can be push started real easily. Only
other thing is it has died twice in last 6 months for unknown reasons but
would start back up after a few minutes. Both times were while idling at a
stop light. Could this be the ignition switch recall? Defective solenoid? I
have a new Optima battery and all connections are solid.

RM wrote:
> Car was running and starting fine then last night it just quit cranking.
> When you turn key to ON all the lights come on and when you turn to START
> nothing happens. No click, nothing. Can be push started real easily. Only
> other thing is it has died twice in last 6 months for unknown reasons but
> would start back up after a few minutes. Both times were while idling at a
> stop light. Could this be the ignition switch recall? Defective solenoid? I
> have a new Optima battery and all connections are solid.

Measure the voltage on the smaller terminal while you try to start the
engine. It should have 12V on it while starting. If you see 12V and
don't hear a click, most likely the solenoid on top of the starter is
bad. If you don't see 12V, trace it back. Could be a fuse, link, loose
wire or starter switch.
If you hear a click but no crank, the starter motor is bad.
In case of having a bad solenoid or starter motor, the starter has to
come out.

The fat terminal should have 12V on it all the time.

Remco