Starting Problems

[iowntheskies]

So after class today I went out to my car, a 96 2.0L Non-Turbo 2WD Auto trans Eclipse, to head home for the day and turned the key to hear a short buzz or whine and then silence. All the normal lights on the dash turned on as did the radio (which turned off at start position). After about 4 more silent attempts to start I called it quits thinking that the battery just didn't have enough juice to turn the starter. I returned later in the day with my roomate and his car to try to jumpstart it, and after even more failure to start he came up with the idea to check the fuses. The "starter fuse" was in perfect condition, but we did find that the "motor fuse" was burned out. The fuse was replaced and after another silent failed attempt to start the new motor fuse was burned out. I'm thinking that there's either a short in one of the starter wires, my starter is busted, or my engine has seized and the starter can't turn so it burns out. I'm really praying that its not the last one, because I love my car and would hate to see it go. I'm thinking the seize is unlikely as I hadn't driven the car for more than 20 minutes at normal city speeds, and there was no indication of a warmer than usual engine such as high temp gauge or oil pressure light. Any thoughts on things I can try to trace down the problem before I go out and buy a new starter? Any help is appreciated.

 

[justin0469]

A blown fuse would not indicate a seized motor. There is a ground wire attached to your block somewhere, make sure it is not touching any other wires other then other ground wires.

 

[iowntheskies]

yeah, the engine definitely wasn't seized cause I managed to get it started and to a dealer to have them take a look at it. they did a fault trace on all the wiring and found that the rear O2 sensor wire was damaged and that it was probably feeding back through to the wiring harness causing the fuse to blow. they fixed the wire but unfortunately, that didn't solve the problem. the car ran fine for a couple of drives around town and then the problem started up again. eventually I went out to start the car and it made a terrible grinding noise and continued cranking even after the key was turned to off. I tried cycling the key back through run (planning to try to turn it to off again) and as soon as it got to run the engine kicked over and started up. it absolutely will not start now so its sitting in a parking space outside my apartment. my guess is that the starter drive was sticking, first in the disengaged position, hence the not starting, and in its last drive in the engaged position, causing it to burn out the starter. I havent had a chance to take a look at it yet but I'd like to do that before I have it towed to the dealer to have them check it out and fix it. thoughts?

 

[justin0469]

Well if it starts sometimes and not others, its not a problem with a fuse unless you left out the part that you replace the fuse every time you try to start the car. I would say your starter is messed up. I don't know about NT starters but I've always got my starters from Autozone and turned out fine.