Even if it's bypassed, it can still give a lot of trouble if it isn't bypassed correctly. The most common way it was done "back in the day" (based on several of them I've seen over the years) was to wrap (worst way) or solder (better) a jumper wire across the two main power terminals on the relay and plug it back into the socket.
You have to remember that the power going through this relay comes from the battery, goes through the ignition switch, through the relay and back to the starter. When it gets to the starter it has to have enough voltage to kick the solenoid in. Every inch of wire you add in drops the voltage a little and every connector or contact you add in can drop it a lot. If the voltage to the solenoid is too low, nothing is going to happen when you turn the switch. This system added several inches of wire, two terminal connections and a set of contacts into this already long loop of wire.
The best thing to do (in my opinion) is cut the heavy wires taking the power into and back out of the relay, shorten them as much as possible, solder them together and cover the spice with a piece of heat shrink tubing
At the end of the day, even if it’s working correctly, all this system does is force you to buckle up before you can start the car. And even if it’s working, it’s REAL easy to bypass . . . just buckle the belt then sit on top of it . . . or cut the buckle off and stick it in the latch . . .or cut the wires to the belt and twist them together . . . or wrap a wire around the two terminals on the relay . . . sooooo . . . you’re either going to buckle up or you’re not regardless of whether this over-engineered, poor performing system works or not
