Ford - Taurus :: No Click When Turn The Key In Ignition To Start / Dead Silence

I have a 2003 Taurus wagon (a real babe magnet) that has 63K on it. On random occasions recently, I turn the key to start it and there is dead silence--no groans, no clicks, nada. This happened for the second time last week at a tire shop, and the technician had me hold the key in the start position while he tapped the starter with a metal rod, which worked miraculously. He showed me where the starter was and how to perform this miracle. Unfortunately it is a two-person job, and I was stranded the next evening alone at my house, and missed work the next day. Later that day it started right up like nothing had happened.

It stranded me again two days later, and nice lady in the parking lot held the key in start position while I used my cane to tap the starter as I had been shown. I took it to the dealer and explained the problem and my temporary solution, hoping they would know from this exactly how to fix it. After four days, they said they could not duplicate the problem, that the car started right up every time they tried it. Meanwhile the car I had borrowed from a friend broke down in a busy intersection, stranding me again for a short while. I went back to the dealer and brought the Ford home, figuring there isn't much to do but play the odds....Logic suggests that because tapping the starter seems to get it to go, that the problem must be in the starter. Yet the guys at the dealership wouldn't touch anything until the car refused to start for them. Where does one go (or in this case, possibly not go) from here?