arbeitm

I just finished working on the front suspension and now the car won't start today.

I don't think they are related.

When I turn the key to the battery I hear this buzzing sound by the passenger footwell. The engine won't crank.

The battery is fine. Has 12volts. Any ideas.

My first thoughts are DME or Alarm module. What else is over there that could be buzzing?

lug nut

Try beating on the DME a little. Give it a couple of good smacks with your hand. If the car starts, then there are some broken solder joints in the DME. Fixing the joints is not hard. The joints that usually break are on the transistor. There was a thread not to long ago on resoldering the DME.

dgz924s

Give the starter a tap or 2 see if it frees the bendix.... if sticking.

Dal

arbeitm

Ok...so I'm still not able to get my car to start.

I've tried: tapping the DME...no help, banging on the starter...no help.

In checking further, I've found the humming/buzzing appears to be coming from the cigarette ligher area. I didn't pull the panel yet to investigate further, but does anyone have any ideas?

dgz924s

Well I think the alarm system is in that area. Have a look at the cap/rotor, if the cap pickups appear chewed up or corroded it will kill a good start everytime. 3 of my no/hard starts were cap related, my car seems to go through caps on a regular basis.

Dal

arbeitm

The alarm system is next to the DME. So I kind of ruled that out. I don't know what could be making that noise by the cigarette lighter.

I'll check my distributer cap, but I think it's fine.

arbeitm

Ok...so got around to checking this out this morning.

The battery is fine. It is about 65% charged with over 12 volts. When I try to start the car, the interior lights do not dim.

Then I did the starter check. Connected two leads to the starter, touched them together...and all I got was a spark from the leads. The starter didn't turn.

So does that mean the starter is bad? If so, how do I know if it's the solenoid so I don't have to replace the whole thing?

arbeitm

So I decided to look into the buzzing noise inside the dash. I took off the panel above the glove box but I could not tell what it is. Seems to be deep inside there. I'm thinking it's HVAC related...and has nothing to do with my No Start issue. When I put my finger over the tube that brings in air to determine the cabin air temp, the buzzing gets quieter.

So any opinions before I drop $ 150 on a new starter. Performance Products sells the solenoids for $ 50. I'd rather go that route...but how do I determine if that is the problem.