Starter Relay

[Gary Tayman]

I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question -- I can find my way around any 50-year-old car, but not too good at the new ones.

My 2002 Impala is having an intermittent problem -- it won't start. This is generally after sitting for several days. It is definitely not the battery -- it doesn't even try. I get in, turn the key, and it sits there -- no clicks, no nuthin'. Dash lights up, everything else works, but no starter. If I keep playing with it, just turning the key like a hundred times, suddenly out of nowhere everything clicks and the car starts right up. As long as I drive the car frequently I never have the problem, but if it sits for awhile (let's face it; I've got four cars and this is the most boring of the fleet), it may do it.

I can't think of anything else it could be but the starter relay. It's too intermittent to troubleshoot; I would suspect the relay -- replace it and be done with it, and make sure the connections are solid when putting it in. But -- where is it on this car? On my T-Bird it's a $5.00 part that sits next to the battery, but on this one, who knows? Is it an integral part of a $1,500.00 starter assembly? Is it mounted in some goofy place that requires pulling the engine to access it? Anyone who knows, please tell me if this is a user-replaceable part.