Is your Samurai's starter cranky? Or rather, does it lack cranky when you need it and just sit there bein' clicky, instead?

I ran into this sort of thing all the time on the trail. When it first started, I was convinced the starter was failing. It's way annoying to stall out, and then sit there like an idjit trying to get the starter to engage while everyone waits behind you. So I bought a remanufactured starter and installed it. And a week afterwards, on another trail run, it was back to click-click-click again. Suzushi was becoming a trail PITA.

Replacing the starter under warranty wasn't a problem, but being a good customer at my local autoparts store got me something else I needed, too: a report on what the remanufacturer found wrong with the first replacement starter. The answer was one word: Nothing.

Next trail run--second 'new' starter installed--I was back to click-click-click again. Excepting this time, I had paid attention to what was going on in the couple of weeks leading up to when it occurred. The only thing that was significantly different from when I had started the truck almost every day without problem before the trail run was that on the trail, the engine compartment was hot and wasn't getting time to cool down before the engine needed to be restarted. During the week, I rarely had to restart without some cool-down time.

I asked around and found out the problem wasn't uncommon and that people had a few ideas what the problem was, but no definite answers. The best suggestion I got was to ""wire in a relay and get power straight from the battery, instead of through the key-switch."" A few days later I was at my local electronics shop for some switches and noticed a box of Bosch (part #0 332 209 150) and Hella relays ($3.95-4.95), as well as the socket/harness assemblies ($3.95) that fit them. I grabbed a couple of relays and a harness assembly with an eye towards installing them later.

Well... things happen. It's now a long while later and I finally got around to getting the relay installed. Couldn't be simpler, nor work much better.

As you can see in the picture at the top of the page, the relay harness has five leads. We only need four of them. If you find one that has wires as long as mine does (over a foot in length), the only other thing you'll need is some insulated crimp-on connectors and a screw to mount the relay to the truck.

Both the Bosch and the Hella relays are marked identically as to lead positions. The terminal marked '30' on the relay body is the 'common' input to the two positions of the relay contacts. The terminals marked 85 and 86 are the connections to the relay coil. 87 is a normally open connection (it closes when the relay is energized) and terminal 87a is a normally closed connection that is opened when the relay is energized. The Bosch relay is rated at 12V, 20 Amps continuous, 30 Amp max. The Hella relay is marked as 12V, 30 Amps. Both should carry plenty of current for the starter solenoid.

To prepare, crimp a ¼"" male spade connector onto the lead going to either terminal 85 or 86 (polarity doesn't matter, here). I used the white lead, which will be the 'hot' side used to energize the relay. Crimp a ¼"" female spade connector onto the lead going to terminal 87 (yellow, on my harness). For this terminal I used a right-angle connector for a lower profile where it will connect at the starter. Crimp a ring terminal having a good-sized ring on the lead going to whichever of 85 or 86 you didn't use earlier. In my case this was the black lead, which will be the ground side of the relay energizing coil.

What you do with the lead going to terminal 30 will depend on how you want to make the connection to your battery's positive post. I have an auxiliary connector there, so I used another ¼"" female spade terminal. The lead from terminal 87a isn't used (it was the red one in my harness), unless you can think of a 20-30A max. load you want powered up when the truck is 'key off'.

Now plug the relay into the connector if you haven't already done so, and locate a place to mount it--using the hole in the molded tab--where the leads will reach the battery positive post, the starter terminal, a good ground and (here's the 'trick' part) the connector on the wire coming from the ignition switch that you're about to remove from the starter's ¼"" terminal. I used the same screw that holds my Rancho shocks' air header, which happened to be located on the passenger-side fender brace just forward of the battery (as you can see in the photo on the left).

After you get the relay mounted, reach down and disconnect the ¼"" female connector from the starter. Once again, that's the lead that comes from the ignition switch. Connect your male spade terminal to the female terminal you just unhooked. Connect the female spade lug (coming from terminal 87 of the relay) to the starter's ¼"" male connector. Connect the ring terminal to a good ground. I used the bolt used for the headlight ground, located on the brace near the front of the fender. Connect your remaining lead to your battery positive post.

That's it! Assuming your relay's good, you should be able to get in, turn the key, and... click, whirrr, vaROOM! Instant start-up. On Suzushi, you could hear the difference when the starter kicked in: a much more authoritative 'thunk' as the solenoid energized and (what sounded in the few tests I made) like a more reliable and higher speed starter than I had for months.

If your relay should ever fail, just disconnect the relay lead at the starter, separate the relay lead and ignition lead at the mated connectors, and reconnect the ignition lead at the starter. Almost before you know it, you'll be back to that darn clicky starter again... but you'll be able to get the vehicle going (or troubleshoot in stock configuration). Or, since the relay simply plugs in to the harness, just add an extra one to your box of 'trail spares.'

--Scott Gomez