Ford Escort MK 4 XR3I starting problem

HI
I have an intermittant starting problem on my Escort, it seems to be electrical! Turn the key, all the ignition lights come on, fuel pump energises for a few secs, start car ...nothing. Checked the battery voltage at 12v, main battery lead down to the starter 12v, all the earths are good, I`ve put a voltmeter on the small lead on the starter (trigger lead) tried to start car it reads 12v, take that lead off and run a seperate lead straight from the battery to the trigger lead and the car starts everytime as normal, The car is starting occaisonally with the key as normal, I`m starting to think about a high resistance in the ignition wiring/relay to the starter, any further help would be most appreciated.

 

I think you need to trace the solenoid wire right back to the ignition switch, unfortunately.....the Escorts were all really prone to water ingress around the fuse box area, and some indeed needed new ignition switches too.
Thats about all I can remember about the XR set up...sometimes the Haynes manuals were good at showing where the connector block areas are, which could help.
John