Help! Car Won't Start! Looking for Starter Relay, which one is it??
 

I'm looking for the exact location of the Starter Relay. I bought a new one from the dealer, but when I look under th dash at the relays, they all look the same! I have a MY2000 C2 Cabriolet. My car won't start, but it cranks really hard without turning over. I have ruled out the battery, but now I'm stuck because I don't know which relay to replace. Are there any fuses that I should be looking to replace as well?

Please Help!

Thanks,
Kabir

The Start-inhibit relay is behind drivers seat under the carpet on the relay carrier. Your symptoms do NOT point to a relay.

Thanks 1999Porsche911, what do my symptoms sound like to you? What else should I be checking for?

The symptoms could point to almost anything. It could be electrical or fuel. I would first check ALL fuses in the footwell, especially the fuel pump. Since it is not even sputtering, plugs, injectors and other commom things seem unlikely.

Has any work been done on the car recently?

I concur. If you can start and your engine turned then it's not the starter. Could be fuel pump.

1999's brought out some good points.

If the motor cranks but doesn't start;
Check for spark.
Check for fuel.
Check for air.

Thanks everyone, now work has been done on the car recently, except, I just changed the air filter the other day. It drove fine after that, and then this just happened out of the blue. Also, I'm not sure if this is related or not, but my Cab top stopped working as well.

I just replaced my fuel pump.....here is hat I did....remove the hose on the throttle body..spray brake cleaner, or carb cleaner in the throttle nody, try and start it...if it starts then its the fuel pump.

;) this gentleman took the words right out of my mouth, brake clean is your friend!!

but if you don't already have any, get starter fluid as it's a little nicer for the motor :D

1999Porsche911 hit the nail right on the head! It was the fuel pump fuse that had blown. I changed that, and the engine fired right up. Thank you all so much for your help, I could not have done this without you. I'm also going to take some precautions for the future and clean my throttle body as newport996 and home grown suggested!

A common cause of the fuel pump fuse blowing is a short on the O2 sensor cables. It could be a fluke, but to test if a O2 sensor short is causing it bring the car up to reline at WOT. Bounce off the rev limiter. If any of the wires are shorted to each other, the fuse will blow immediately. Carry a new fuse with you so you do not get stranded.