Help !! Starter or What!!

[huntin5L]

I don't know if this is a starter or what. If i turn the key all i hear is a click, but sometimes it will turn over and start. But most the of the time all i hear is click after everytime i turn the key and nothing else. I have to keep doing that until it starts. Is it the starter? Today after work i had to keep doing it and this time it wouldn't start, i had to push start my car to get it home. What is it? I need this, its my dd.


Could it also be a starter relay?

 

[huntin5L]

any idears?

 

[huntin5L]

bump, need this fixed asap

 

[MKIIINA]

sounds like the contacts are bad and/or your ground is bad. time to buy a new starter or rebuild yours. replace the ground if it looks to be in poor condition.

the reason it sometimes starts and sometimes doesnt is the contacts flaten out over time and lose their connectivity on the bad spots but there are still good sections.

get the 89+ (may be 90+) starter as there are threads, is a tad lighter and i think a bit cheaper and they are interchangeable

ps. dont bump your thread so much. the rule is once every 24 hrs. just a helpful fyi.

 

[huntin5L]

i have to find where the starter is at to check? Where is it located, near the bellhousing?

 

[huntin5L]

yeah i know, but this is my dd. My ride to work need to get it fixed asap.

 

[huntin5L]

But if i hear clicking everytime i turn the key that means the starter is working right?

 

[MKIIINA]

yes. usually you can get away with just getting the new contacts (check "the starter thread") and youd be set in theory. check the ground also.

since its your dd carry a broomstick and give the starter a good wack, that sometimes usually works.

 

[huntin5L]

lol broomstick?

Im gonna go check it now, but my question is this. If i hear the clicking when i turn the key isn't that the start working or does that mean it isn't getting enough power?

 

[boost fiend]

could be a bad wire, but it could be the starter pos cable is loose. get under there and pull both wires off and clean up the connections and itghten it all up reall tight. try to start it again. if a no go, take it off and have the starter tested at ur local parts store. test the battery too.

 

[huntin5L]

Thanks boostfiend, now i went under there and i saw the big wire going to the starter but i couldn't see where it leads too, looked a little wet so i tried to clean it up a bit, other than that it looks real clean, car came from california so everything looks really clean. The starter itself looks like a bitch to take out. I saw one bolt and i couldn't even see the other bolt, I am assuming there are only two.

 

[MKIIINA]

there are 2. the bottom one is pretty easy, the second on is a bit of a pain. whats happening with that click is that there isnt a full supply of power going to the starter from the battery. this is (as i said before) from the flatening of the contacts.

its not too bad to do but the first time takes a bit.

 

[steve_mk3]

There are two bolts that hold the starter on.
If your car is a early model, something like a pre 90, the bolts will have nusts on the other side. You will need to get to both sides to take the bolts off. Some have posted that if you take the Alt out you can use a ratchet with some extensions to get to the bolts on the front.

As far as your large cable, one side runs to the battery. take the cabe off and clean the contacts where the cable attaches to the starter. There is a large ground cable on the same side of the car in the front near the A/C compressor, clean the contacts on that as well. There is a small wire that runs to the starter selonoid, what your hearing is the selonid clicking.

Also you may what to check the TSRM
www.cygnusx1.net

Steve

 

[tookwik4u89]

+1 for contacts in the starter solenoid.

 

[cwapface]

The best tip I read in the archives is to tap a wire into the one skinny wire going to the starter, make sure your car is in neutral, then connect it to the positive battery terminal. If it cranks 100% of the times you test it, then you may have a bad connection somewhere. If it does the same thing as when you turn the key with the big click, the starter needs some work.

I just pulled my starter this weekend and it wasn't so bad. Undo the bolts on the transmission mount and lower it as much as you can and you can do the whole thing from underneath. The bottom bolt is cake, the top bolt sucks when you break it loose and then it just spins with the nut. I snaked in a beast of a socket extension to hold the nut in place while I turned the socket one click at a time. Protip for installing the starter again: weld or epoxy the nut to the starter before you put it back in there, it will make the job 10x easier the next time.

 

[MKIIINA]

or just get the 89+ starter.....it has threaded holes already! no need for the nut!

 

[huntin5L]

my car is an 89

 

[SupraDread]

Did u do as per boost fiend directions and have the same results? I was about to post the same but these guys r so fast and furious and I'm so slo and delerious.

 

[drostar]

Next time it doesn't start try this: Just hold the key at the start position. Just leave it there for like a minute if you have to. See if it eventually starts.

I have occational starting problems. I have no clue what the problem is. I've already replaced the contacts. The starter seemed to work fine outside the car. Grounds are fine. I've bypassed the clutch switch and starter relay... I hooked a wire directly from the ignition switch to the starter and it helped for a while but it's starting to do it again. All I can think is some wacked out wiring problem or the solenoid on my starter is dying some kind of slow and painful death. As of this date, I've never been completely stranded though... if I try it enough times, and hold the key to the start position long enough, and it will eventually decide to start. And when it does decide to start, it does so full and strong. I'll be replacing the starter soon though and I hope that's all it is.

 

[huntin5L]

It was the starter that is the problem