Here is my (possibly familiar ;^) symptom:

After the car (a '90 780) has been running long enough to get pretty warm (don't know exact time, but an hour will usually do it), if I turn the car off, it will not turn right back on. If I let the car cool off, it's ok. (E.g., on a really hot day, it can take overnight; today [it's about 45F outside] when it did it, it just took a few minutes with the hood open.)

Specifically, the solenoid seems to click, the panel lights are on and pretty bright, etc. It's not the battery or the starter (replaced 'em). Although I haven't bypassed it yet to verify, I suspect it is not the tranny safety cutout, because I've really horsed around the shifter to no avail (and I can't imagine how temp would really affect that, anyway). I've also pounded on all of the relays inside the fuse/relay compartment.

I've search the net and the archives at this site. I found several recommendations, but nobody really _knew_ what the problem was. Given that so many people seem to have the problem, I thought I'd get an updated opinion.

A suggestion posted here from a few years ago was that there was not enough voltage getting through the ignition switch to the starter (the "50 terminal"). The solution was to put a relay out in the engine compartment and use the ignition switch to switch the relay, which would conduct current through a (shorter) direct path from battery to starter.

Some have suggested a failing battery ground braid.

Before I start taking stabs myself, is there a single, or at least most common, cause for this? Is the relay bypass trick what people are doing?

Thanks!!

...R

PS On another note, I'm thinking about replacing my '90 780, which I've not taken great care of and which is falling apart, with another 780 of similar vintage that the previous owner "treated a little nicer" than I did mine (and then keep mine garaged somewhere as a spare parts bucket). Can anybody think of a reason why this would be a bad idea (like they all live exactly 11 years and then crap out ;^)?

..R