Starter won't engage when key is turned.

67dart,

Thanks! Using your advice and the help of a friend we traced the problem to both the starter and the relay.

We opened up the relay, and found a small piece of manufacturing debris between the coil and the contact plate, which was preventing the circuit from being consistently completed.

(Opening up the relay also showed me how the relay works, wow, really simple!)

And there was no voltage on the starter stud when the two were connected. Opened the starter up just for fun, and brushes on the inside looked hammered and a few key wires were cracked. Turned the starter in as a core last night and bought a warrantied remanufactured starter.

Put it all back together this morning, and it fired right up. To be honest, I don't ever recall EVER hearing the starter sound that strong. (And I've been with this car since 1992.)

Thank you everyone for all your advice and patience! I feel like I'm beginning to understand how the electrical stuff works just a little bit more. And I need to pick up a testing light, that thing is awesome.