Check the starter it could be fried get it tested.

Check out your relay it could be bad this thread might help http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/no-start-starter-relay-testing.487269/#post-153479489 check the video out and the posts from the Wiseman and members lots of things to try good luck

Ya, I'm going to test that, but I've been hearing that the sound is like the motor is seized. So I will be checking for crankwalk today as well

I'll check the relay thank you

Check that you timing belt is not Brocken

I had checked the timing belt prior to trying to start it, I see no issues with it, but I forgot to mention that when I turn the key to start I get a little wisp of smoke from the positive battery terminal

Hmm check an see how tight your cables are , an just a whisp? Sounds like somethings fried and worst case scenario is engine siezed which would suck so let's try some easier things firstly

is the battery getting hoT?

What's the Voltage at?

Did you see if there's an alarm? Most have starter kill relays maybe something got screwed up
Your basically going to have to go through the whole circuit from ignition -starter and if the previous owner messed around in there in a ghetto way like t-taps , then you might be in for some surprises

What happens when you turn the key do you get lights on the dash , radio ect ... ?

Clutch switch Functioning ?

What's the Voltage drop to when cranking? It may just not be getting any juice from the battery how Manny cold cranking amps? If you have a tester

Nobody thought to mention grounds? How about a little history also.

Definitely check grounds and from what ur saying it sounds like someone connected the starter wires wrong.

Hey guys thanks allot for the help, let me throw as much knowledge as I have on this car.
I got it from a buddy of mine, he has no knowledge on cars. He said he heard a knocking one day and it just stopped working. He then parked out in the garage for a year and I just picked it up about a week ago. It barely had 2 quarts of oil in it maybe and as far as I can tell no coolant at all. There was a rat that decided engine beats make a nice home. Although the only real damage I can see done by the rodent is it chewed thru the knock sensor. I am not running any engine codes and that it's the extent of my knowledge of the vehicle history. The only apparent upgrades on the car is an apex'i exhaust, greddy bov, k/n air filter, and strut bars. there is no alarm currently in the car and no stereo. Thanks again I checked fuses and no blown fuses or relays.

Btw yes the battery terminal get hot fast just from attempting to start it

starter sounds toast try smacking it lightly with the a wooden handle of a hammer... twist your battery cables to see if there loose also check for your battery cables to be rubbing on any thing they might be grounding out somewhere.. where i work we call it the wiggle test ... if that fails new starter is what your looking at at least... the relay sounds fine in my opnion because its trying to apply power to starer and its shorting out somewhere

also put a socket on the crank pully just to see if the motor spins... clockwise

sry just read whole story definatly try to turn crank there is a rubber plug in the driver side fender well that you can look thru try to turn that and that will let you know if motor sezied up... it will be some what difficult or you can pull spark plugs out and put in a little bit of marvel mystery oil and let it sit over night....

A buddy of mine came and had me put the car in 5th gear and try to push it. He said the motor is seized because we couldn't push the car backwards down the driveway, I guess in fifth gear it's such a small gear ratio that it should be able to move that way... what do you guys think?

negitive 5th gear is a very small gear try to push it in 1st if anything gives more torque over the motor because 1st gear spins many many more times per rpm than 5th... the best way to tell is put a wrench on the crank bolt never know you could have a tranny problem or transfer case issue... start from the begging work your way thru very carefully first see if motor turns if it does than check starter see if the soionid on top is working and go from there...

Great, I'll try turning the crank then and update after, thanks allot

Hey guys, so I used my torque wrench to turn the crank and it turns pretty easily in both directions, and then I tried to move it in and out and it would not budge so no crank walk and the motor isn't seized. Although I tried to push start first in reverse down my driveway then in first gear down the street, with no result the car jerked like it normally would just no crank or attempt to start

eclipsecrazy1989 said:

Hey guys, so I used my torque wrench to turn the crank and it turns pretty easily in both directions, and then I tried to move it in and out and it would not budge so no crank walk and the motor isn't seized. Although I tried to push start first in reverse down my driveway then in first gear down the street, with no result the car jerked like it normally would just no crank or attempt to start

Click to expand...

That's somewhat good news , but like I said now your going to have to go through your whOle starter circuit

I may have missed this but what year? Manual trans?
1g or 2g?
Is it fwd?
any info will help ppl figure out your cars issue , there's never to much info when trying to diagnose something imo anything helps

Are you sure the rats or what ever didn't eat threw more then just the knock sensor? The starters right around there are you sure the starter is good ? Is the battery 100% charged?? Anything from zero- around 12.4 ish is a dead battery my batter sees 12.8 but cold cranking amps is a better measurement something could have drained it when you attached the new battery





A very simple test is find the starter wire under the dash get a digital multimeter , stick that probe inside the harness and crank wth it attached still , does it see 12 volts? It will drop abit but anything less than that is a dead give away that somethings wrong with the circuit

@guitarkid
It's a manual 98 eclipse gsx,
The battery is definitely still good, I pulled the battery from my muscle to try to start it. The battery is a brand new northstar, strongest battery on the automotive market, and I only hook it up when cranking so nothing is drawing on it. A friend of mine has an extra starter so I'm going to try that and I will do a visual check on the wires under the hood. I don't have a multimeter but I'm sure my friend does, I will try that as well. Anything else I can look at since I'm going to be tearing into it tomorrow I'd like to knock as many things out as possible.

Bypass the ignition switch by getting a long wire from positive terminal to starter solenoid and see if it cranks.if it does than you have bad news it's gonna be difficult to find the short or broken wire.

any luck?

Not so far, went to the furious 7 premier. Just working on it now pulling the intake mani to check wires around the spot where the rat decided to call home. Going to check out the starter connection and try what inthemidst suggested with a direct route wire and see what I can get done tonight

Check everything first if somethings out of place try cranking it again with the key don't short anything