MM951

New grounds, clean terminals..new (used) starter.

Cranked fine.. worked for a few days. I just went to go start it I just got the "electrical" noise like the battery was dead. Gauge indicates 12V with key in the on postion. I hooked up a battery charger and still nothing. This is exactly what my last starter did

Anyone know what was cause 2 starters to go like this??

Techno Duck

Tap the solenoid a few times with something..wood, flashlight..etc. Starter on my 951 'froze' or something like that a couple nights ago. Turn key and nothing happens. Heard an electrical hum, but starter did not engage or turn over. After about 5 or 10 minutes of trying to figure out what the problem was, crawled next to the car and gave it a couple taps with a flashlight. Hasnt given me problems since.

Stien

Try shorting the power and solenoid terminals and see if it spins while it's off the car.

KuHL 951

How are your cables? I found corrosion deep within the cable strands under the insulation that I couldn't even see until I removed it. Corrosion product buildup will add a lot of resistance substantially dropping the voltage to the starter, especially when hot. Take a look under the insulation close to the positive battery terminal; if you see any blue/green deposits on the cable at all, replace it.

ehall

^^^^^this is more common than you think. I had the same experience.

Moe

Me too... I replaced the starter, and now the fuel pump don't pump... Jeeze. I think it's an Omen...

ehall

Hell! I thought you were a 928 guy!

Moe

What? I'm not nuts, and I have a good attitude, and I don't wake up pissed off!

ehall

lol. an AMC pacer....uhh I mean 928 could definitely make me surly in the mornin!

Jfrahm

Yes, battery cables or the battery itself can cause a starter to seem bad. You might also see if the motor spins with a reasonable effort using a socket on the crank bolt.

-Joel.

Moe

Yep, and I did have a pleasant experience w/ the Battery...
I installed an $130 Optima Battery back in 02', and noticed when the Starter Problem showed up, a few weeks ago, the Battery wouldn't hold a charge for more than a week... So, off to the A-Parts Store to get a cheaper battery... this is the first Optima I've had fail, and I've bought 5 of em...
So, I bought an $87 3-year replacement warranty battery...
I told the girl, "look, I have an old battery to avoid your $10 "core charge", and I don't think it's worth anything though"... She scans the Optima, and then says, "****, I don't have enough Cash in this drawer"...
She bops off for a few minutes, comes back hands me $83... with these words... "Ya'll come back now, ya hear"?

4 bucks for a new battery? Damn right I'll be back...

I know I have some old Brake Pads somewhere...

MM951

OK, banged on the starter a few times.. no dice

I made a brand new "custom" starter wiring harness and connected the starter ( first the "new" one, then the one I replaced last week) directly to the battery.

Nothing but that electrical "hum."

I'm convinced something on my car is killing starters.. The starter harness that was in the car looks to be in good shape, no cracks, corrosion, or anything. The battery is less then a month old. Any ideas on what is causing this?

I don't have any other known electrical problems with the car. Everything works properly EXCEPT for the starter

Oh - the engine turns easily with a breaker bar

Stien

Doesn't that hum mean the solenoid is done for? I had a starter go and got a new (used) one, the solenoid died after 2 starts. I even cut and redid the connector to the solenoid, put the old starter back on and has worked ever since.

MM951

Yeah I was wondering what would cause 2 solenoids to die other then bad luck (too much of that recently!)

So you repaired the solenoid on your old starter? Is all you had to do was replace the solenoid connector (that goes to the body of the starter?) I tried removing mine to see what the deal was.. but even my impact screwdriver was no match for the old soft metal screws..

Do you know what caused the solenoid on your replacement starter to fail after 2 cranks?

thanks

BTW: I love your avatar

Stien

What I did was cut the wire (from the ignition harness) that goes to the solenoid as short as I could (only as far as I could see while under the car) while still being able to connect a new wire with connector on it. Someone else is this thread suggested checking wires, I replaced mine not because I saw corrosion but it had the wrong type of connector for some reason. I didn't change the starter at all, I just went back to the old one. I don't know what was wrong with the used one, I got it off a parts car in a junkyard, so I assume it was sitting underneath the car (they take the wheels off and put the car on the ground) so it probably took a beating. Another lesson from that day is never forget to disconnect your battery, especially when working on the starter. I got out from under the car soooo fast and took the battery out of the car and put it in the garage lol.
And thanks, I like it too