Help serious starter woes!!

[americanjebus]

ok i go to work as normal i get out 8 hours later get in car and try to start and my car cranks over one revolution really slow and then stops so i try turnign it on again and i get the same symptoms you get when you have a really low battery. i try cranking again and all my dash lights go dimm. i figure crap my battery is dying.

i call a friend tell him to bring jumpers. the car sits for like 15 minutes so i say wtf might aswell try starting it again. so i do and nothing, i try again and then it jumps on right away and starts to idle pretty low arround 600 to 700 so im like sweet i bet the battery was just low but better wait for friend.

i turn it off when he gets there with jumpers and i try to start again. nothing, dead cell.

so he hooks jumpers, we let it charge for 10 min. he has his car on and its revving so i go and try to start, nothing, same shit.

so we let it sit longer, nothing no start interior lights just dont dimm as much so im like WTF.

we take off all fuses and put back in all are great we pull battery cables retighten and try again, nothign just that "CLICK" from the starter and nothing else.

we take the cables off figure its not that

so we let it sit and figure maybe it got stuck so we hit the starter and i put the car in N. let it roll back then put it in R and then in P and try again, nothign the first time, then i give it another go and it starts right up. so im like wtf is going on. i turn it off. and then it wont start again

we repeat what we did before just hitting hte starter and letting it sit and try charging. nothing, let it sit,,,

5 min later i try again starts right up with no help from jumpers.

things that need to be done
1: o2 sensor
2: spark plugs from runnign rich
3: maybe new battery im gettin it tested
4: im just paranoid my flex plate is bad.


i REALLY need help with this i got it home and parked it in garage after 2 mile drive, turned it off, started right up. turn it off again, starts right up again. i will try again in the morning.

my questions

can a bad or semi bad flexplate make it so i dont crank over?

coudl a bad battery or ground keep me from starting even with jumpers?

how can i test my starter while its on the car???? <- i really hope its possible.

i am buying the o2 sensor tomorrow, i am checking battery tomorrow, if it starts ok and my mom can give me a ride i will take it to a local electrician that may be able to help me out. am going to parts store to get price on starter + flex plate.

WHAT THE FU%$ could do this, what lines should i check to the starter?

how do i know if its bad? i just want a checklist so i can narrow it down a bit i have a trip this sat. where i will be driving my car ALL OVER SEATTLE and i really want this done and out of my worry list within the next 48 hours and if it means pulling tranny and changing it all within my 5 hour limit i WILL do it.

again thnx

 

[Xtreme]

check the stupid stuff first- like I didn't. Check the brown plug on the starter, and the battery connections, clean them, retighten them, etc. Then go from there.

 

[americanjebus]

well im pretty sure that im gonna spend all day tomorrow pulilng every damn ground wire i can find and scraping any residue down to the metal and then retightening hte hell out of it. im gonna leave my starter spottless.

i've never dealt with starters so all of my knowlege is from reading not actually doing, i'm just asking for tips as far as the little things go.

holy damn the tsrm makes checking the starter as complicated as open heart surgery holly hell thats allot of little crap to check. and it makes it seem so freakin easy to pull the whole thing out.

who has been able to to just unbolt the starter the way it says in the tsrm and just put a new one on without taking other stuff like bellhousing off?

 

[Xtreme]

you don't have to take the bellhousing off- just take the alternator off and feed extensions from the front of the engine, through the spot where the alternator was, until you have enough extensions to reach the bolts. then disconect the wires (you can manuever the starter to make this easier) Shouldn't take more than about an hour for a first timer. Grimjack can give you more specifics, I think.

 

[supratkfy]

if the car jsut has a click its the solenoid in the starter...i had the same problem....my car would start in the morning hard sometimes....then it got worst...car started to just click click...then wait few minutes car would start up fine.....then finally it shitted on me....i had to wack the starter while someone was cranking it to get it started so i could drive it home....i couldn't change the starter myself because i didn't have the time to but i heard u need a lot of extensions to get to it so good luck

 

[americanjebus]

o2 and starter on its way thnx. now i gotta find a way to work in the morning.

 

[shaeff]

why didnt you just pop start it? i'm a pretty small dude, (about 130lbs, 5'9") and i can get my supra rolling enough to pop start it by myself. (asuuming i'm not pushing uphill)

a lot of people dont pop start a car correctly, if you ask me. too many people just let the clutch out and keep it out and expect the car to start moving. ya have to pop the clutch out, and then put it back in immediately after the car starts to that the instant load on the motor doesnt kill it again.

not that you didnt know how to pop start a car, but i'm just sayin'. thats what i would have done. i've never had to call someone because of a dead starter/battery etc... i just pop start my cars if they dont start like normal. ('71 chevy c-10, 86.5 supra, 94 toyota pickup)

-shaeff

 

[GrimJack]

He's driving an automatic. Really tough to pop start those. Also, pop starting a fuel injected car is not a good idea - if you don't have enough power to run the ECU, injectors, and fuel pump, you can cause some serious damage.

I'm willing to bet that your problem is just corroded battery terminals. This is the cause of 90% of the starting problems I fix.

Buy a battery terminal cleaner - the reversible brush type, and clean your terminals. If this fixes the problem, head for the bar to have a drink. If not, fix your grounds, get your battery checked, then your alternator, then your starter. In that order.

 

[shaeff]

DAMMIT. haha. i knew that. oh well. sorry bout that man. i knew you drove an auto, i just totally brain farted heh, flexplate, auto. yeah, i'm smart.

good info Grim.

-shaeff

 

[americanjebus]

ummm my engine bay looks like my sig, i clean it twice a month and i can see the silver color on my grounds and battery terminal. battery is juiced up, everything works like a charm, its the magnetic contact on my starter that isnt doing it, it would not crank, then i rolled it back and smaked the starter some and wiggled it and VAROOOM off it starts.

i dont wanna pop start it, its pretty hard in this car. although i admit i did manage to push it to 15 mph when the hg went out and my radiator blew open and i had to push it home. i know cus hte car next to me slowed down and let me know my speed.

alternator was recently checked, battery was recently checked but pending replacement (two winters of hibernation) and yea im looking at new thicker grounding wires.

 

[americanjebus]

i have one more question , when you change your "starter" do you remove the entire starter braket wit the two cylinders on it or do you just pull the selenoid off and replace that. my two bracket bolts are facing towards tranny and well, cant be reached even if i just want to touch the top bolt.

i was just wondering if your guy's cars are setup the same and how you guys overcame that crap of not being able to reach the top bolt.

i changed selenoid, starts perfect i just have that high pitched spnning sound for a second after like the starter on a jeep or somthin. ONE downside, i get a nice blue spark from be back of the selenoid when it starts. dunno what it could be all wires are covered and fine.

 

[IJ.]

AJ: The whole assembly!

You need a flex joint and a bunch of extensions from under the car.

 

[americanjebus]

all i had was a ratchet ,some sockets and an 8pc ratcheting wrench set, oh and thin arms that are now covered in red bruises.

yea i was in deep crap when i decided to pull the selenoid off i just took it appart peice by peice on the car and ended with up with all this crap and the main rod thing fell of the spring bushings then i opened up the brand new starter took of selenoid and the cetner piston thing came out and i couldnt get it back in (btw never worked on starter before so i was freaked) i ended up having to totally dismantal this starter in my garage no knowign wtf i was doing and put it back together totally voiding my warannty but i got it all in put the new selenoid on old bracket and crossed my fingers. it worked so im not complaining i just wanna fix that spark and im golden.

 

[IJ.]

The main parts that wear are in the bit ya didn't change AJ !

 

[americanjebus]

well crap, i need a better tool cus i cant see a way to get it off and then back on again without taking a whole lot of crap off again, do you have pic of what you used???

 

[IJ.]

AJ: I have to head out shortly but will post a pic when I get back!

It's just a universal joint and a bunch of extention bars on a ratchet!

You put a box end wrench on the front of the bolt then attack the nut from below!

It's a bitch to get to but works!