[Salas97]

I would turn the ignition switch and the car would start sometimes and sometimes it would not even crank, just a click. When it would not crank, I would jump it and the car would fire up. I replaced the battery with an Optima and had the same issue. I then replaced the starter, and it seems to have the same issue. I am fairly new to the car fixing game. Does anyone have any advice on what the problem is before I spend a whole lot more money? I did not think it was the ignition switch because the car started whenever I jumped it.

[kingbuzzo]

Sounds like yer battery cables are worn or you have a parasitic drain

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by kingbuzzo

Sounds like yer battery cables are worn or you have a parasitic drain

I agree with this. If you've verified that the main battery cable connected to the starter solenoid is not loose, I would suspect that the cable may be severely corroded internally.

This assumes the battery is good and charged as you state, and the starter and solenoid are both good.

[Goatracer1]

When you jump start the car where do you put the jumper ground cable? Maybe your battery ground to the engine is dirty/rusty. Remove the cable from the engine and clean the connection. Worth a try. Won't cost anything.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Goatracer1

When you jump start the car where do you put the jumper ground cable? Maybe your battery ground to the engine is dirty/rusty. Remove the cable from the engine and clean the connection. Worth a try. Won't cost anything.

This is a fairly common problem with Pontiacs, always has been. The head bolt with the 3/8 inch lug should have a star washer on the cable end. Many times this washer is omitted during service work. You absolutely can not tell if the connection is corroded without disassembling it, and cleaning each piece. I wish i had a dollar for every time someone told me that the connection looked okay, but upon disassembly there was rust, or corrosion under the nut.

Just throwing it out there as I've seen it many times making my living working on cars, and Pontiacs in particular.

As has already been touched upon, the starter solenoid wiring/connections, can have high resistance on either the battery cable, or the smaller purple wire that energizes the starter solenoid.

A faulty solenoid can also be the cause of intermitent starter problems.

Begin with verifying that your battery hasn't been drained when the problem arises. Secondly, I'd clean the connections I mentioned. Third you may be looking at a high resistance solenoid. To effectively trouble shoot you need a plan of sequence, you might need to invest in a Volt Ohm meter to do the testing of components, and wiring.

Without testing your just changing parts, and hoping for the best. It's a very ineffective, and expensive way to repair cars. You can invest a lot of money in an electrical problem, and not fix it without testing.