Lets see, there's a chance it could just be a bad one-way valve letting fuel go back so it'd start based on whats in the rail then have nothing for a moment while pressure builds. Then again it would start after a few cranks if this is the case, or at least should.. You get a little air pulsing through the line when the fuel is coming back up, maybe it starved it for a second..

I doubt injector as i think that'd be responsible for longer starts, not quick start then death..

The way I understand it you turned the key as usual, it started as usual, a second or two later it died. You tried to restart, nothing.

I'd say leave the relay in, and if it shows back up, jumper it and finish your task. Usually with the relay it'll be dead for 5-10 minutes (turn engine off, leave off for that long) then come back to life. I haven't taken apart a broken one yet, but I should, to see what the usual culprit is. I have a feeling its just not generating enough strength to hold the arm close.. Relays have a fun time failing intermittently in my opinion.

Yours should have a manufature date on it and I'm willing to bet that its original era. The coding is ddmmyy, so for a 97 I wouldn't be surprise to see 130996 on one side of the relay..

Now let me ask you, did you pull out the plugs? They'll tell you a lot. If you have a leaky injector, one of your plugs should be darker then the rest. If its not starting and the plugs are soaked, you've got ignition issues instead of fuel.


Finally, don't you realize this all could be avoided if you drove your car every day :-)!