Intermittent No Start - 5kcdtq

[George Harris]

I just got a call from my wife who has the '87 5kcdtq out shopping. She
turned the key and nothing happened. Absolutely nothing; no click, no
whirring, nothing.

OK, this has happened to me before, so we go through a few things; put
the gear shift in neutral, wap it back and forth a few times, push down
the clutch pedal, turn the key, nothing. Put it into first, push in the
clutch, oops .. rolling backwards, yank the emergency on harder, turn
the key, it starts! Yeah :-) Saved again. But this is why she is always
threatening to sell the house or me and get a new car :-(

Does anyone have any BTDT experience that would help me correct this
problem? I have done a lot of work on this car since getting it 2 years
ago, including removing and cleaning the ground straps to the starter,
but if you think that is the problem I could do that again.

Greatly appreciated
George