Now i really have a problem here-
my 03 protege randomly fauils to start. when the key is in the on position, all onboard indicators illuminates,however when i turn for ignition, the indicators as well as the radio blanks out - no ignition - until the key returns to the on or accessories positions. this once occured in a busy mall and i had to call for emergency roadside service-just as they ere about to tow the vehicle home after several failedattempts to diagnose the problem-boom like magic it started. anyway i have discovered that if i bridge the starter bolts for a second/second & a half with the key in the on position the vehicle would start the next time i turn ignition.
does anyone have any ideas what is going down here.
i thought about having the starter serviced, what do you think?

 

If the Protege will not start with the ignition key but will if key in the on position and you bridge across the two wires at the starter and it will now crank over and start up then starter sounds to be ok. Would look more to either the ignition switch or a connection problem at the starter.
If that is the case then take the steering column covers off and locate a couple of wires going to the ignition switch. When the no cranking condition reoccurs, Short the Solid Black wire to the one that is Black with Blue stripe. Solid black is power into the ignition switch and Black with Blue stripe is out to the starter. If it now starts each time then the igntion switch is casuing the problem.

 

sounds like the ign. switch to me too. if you can't find the problem there, there are also some contacts on the starter that are fairly easily accesible. just jiggle those a little bit and see if that does any good for the turn over, but it doesn't sound like that is the problem. that should be the second step if the switch is good, but it sounds like the switch is bad.

 

thanks guys i'm gonna prepare for the next occurance by locating these wires today.