Help requested on this one......Where the heck is the Starter Relay on a 1994 Montero?

I keep having a starting issue where sometimes I turn the key to "start", and get absolutely nothing from the starter......no clicking sound, no attempt to engage, nothing. However the battery is charged and strong, and all the other dash lights are coming on as they should.

I have cleaned all the battery connections, and grounds, and the positive lead to the starter connections.
Since the problem persists, I was thinking that maybe it has a failing Starter Relay. When checking the Shop Manual, it has a drawing showing that the Starter Relay and ABS Relay should be located behind the dash, apparently under or beside the radio. But why in the world would the engineers place these relays in such a hard to get-to location? Seems all relays should be grouped together either in the engine compartment in that large fuse/relay box, or under the dash near the driver's kick panel.

I started removing dash components in an attempt to access this area:




No Starter Relay under the radio. The box with the orange sticker and part number MB-886391 is the 4WD Control Module. The white plug end is what I believe for the ABS Relay, but this Montero LS does not have ABS brakes, thus it is absent.



I pulled the radio out, and there are not relays in that empty space:



However, behind that metal plate on the left side of the radio area, there is some type of "box", perhaps a relay or something......or maybe the Timer for the ignition switch light ring? The only way to get to this rascal is to remove the lower portion of the dash panel (below the steering wheel):




The Shop Manual is very vague on how to remove this panel, as it only shows a very small sketch of the entire dash broken down in segments, and shows only 4 screws holding it. There is an upper "knock out" plastic cover on each side of the steering wheel, and a 10mm nut on each which I removed. On the bottom of the panel there are 2 phillips screws (one in each corner) which I removed. But she is still holding on for dear life, and will not budge. So, I removed the upper screw in the Engine Relase lever and Gas Cap lever, and it still does not want to budge. (And accessing these screws is a royal pain, as you must lay on your shoulders and ram your head up into the brake pedal to look up and see them). I then tried holding the release levers down so as to put a phillips screwdriver up into where there are 2 more screws. One is partially stripped by a prior mechanic, and another is so tight as not want to budge (no room for an impact wrench here). So, I have called "time-out" on this search for the Starter Relay, before I get angry and do any damage to that panel.

Here is a picture looking in one of the switch cut-outs just above that Lower Panel which I was trying to remove.....if you look inside the cut-out, you will see a metallic box. That is what I was hoping to access by removing the lower panel. Does anyone know if this is actually the Starter Relay, or is it maybe the Timer for the ignition switch light ring?



Does anyone know where the darn Starter Relay is actually supposed to be?

Thanks.

 

Well, fellas........this clown thinks he has solved the riddle of the "Missing Starter Relay":

First, here is a picture from the Shop Manual showing where the Starter Relay is supposed to be:




After I did not find the Starter Relay behind or near the radio location as shown in the manual, I was scratching my head and wondering "why the heck do they even need a starter relay in the first place, as I dont recall seeing them in other vehicles......and I thought that the Starter Solenoid was essentially a Relay itself???"

So, I was digging through the Shop Manuals once again, and went to the Wiring Diagrams:

The diagram on the left is for Manual Trannies, and the one on the right is fro Auto Trannies.......You can see that only the Manual Trannies get the darn Starter Relay added to the electrical system. The Montero LS that I am working on has an Auto Tranny, so thats why I was pulling out my hair trying to find the darn Starter Relay. I suppose the Starter Relay is only needed on the Manual Trannies due to the Clutch Pedal Switch.....current flows thru the relay and to the Clutch Pedal switch, and if the clutch pedal is not "down", then the current goes to ground, and never makes it to the Starter.




Then I read the shop manual closely, and it does vaguely mention that there is no Stater Relay on Auto Tranny models....but you have to read it really close to catch this info:








So, I can put my dash back together, and not deal with forcing that lower panel off to access "whatever" unit was to the left of the radio housing......I think it is the Cruise Control unit, or Buzzer????

So, now I am back to the initial problem.....why I keep having intermittent Starting issues.....complete "no start" symptons. When the starter does engage, it cranks and sounds fine. So, maybe the starter solenoid is going bad?

 

I think it's behind the battery

I think it's in the boot behind the battery