2g manual tranny STARTER?

[SRiz]

Ok i know this is probably a common question , but the search didnt help much. When I turn my key, no matter what, I hear a clicking from around where my starter is ...under the hood...(so power is getting to it) do i need a new starter or is this a under hood relay or bad connection.... help me out i keep getting differnt answers for this question.

 

[StaticXMtrsprts]

Is the car starting fine? or does it not start at all? If it isn't starting do you hear your fuel pump turning on?

 

[gsxboost20g]

If it just clicks from the starter, your starter motor is bad. The solenoid that engages the sterter to the flywheel is operational, but the starter motor is not turning. This is more than likely your only problem. Good luck.

 

[GTM]

If it just clicks from the starter, your starter motor is bad. The solenoid that engages the sterter to the flywheel is operational, but the starter motor is not turning. This is more than likely your only problem. Good luck.

Just a word of advice, this may not be an imporant site to you but I note that you are in the red. I can only guess this is from giving out incorrect advice in violation of #3 above. You or the previous poster have no foundation for drawing any conclusion much less telling them to spend $150 for a starter. Consider if you had to pay $150 to join this site so you could give bad advice it would be taken away from your deposit... bet you would think twice or "bet my life".

I'm sure there are 50 questions you could ask before you spent 2¢ of the posters money. I'm not going to give you a black eye, but look before you leap.

I would start with chking battery voltage, then chking voltage to the engine block. These are easy and take 5 seconds, knowing that grounds work loose might give you a clue. If it doesn't pass these then charge the battery or clean all contacts. Next it could be suggested to chk power to starter and ground from starter, again bolts etc. Next chk ground from engine to body a common problem. Remove solenoid wire and check voltage... now there are some 40 others that must be performed... name them before you spend that $$$ of this member because you wanted to play hero.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[SRiz]

yeah when it does start it starts fine fuel pump and all... ive checked the voltage going to the starter and coming from the battery ect all are good... ground wires are secure and clean

 

[GTM]

yeah when it does start it starts fine fuel pump and all... ive checked the voltage going to the starter and coming from the battery ect all are good... ground wires are secure and clean

Have you checked those at the time of failure? It will require someone to operate the key while conducting tests. You need to check the solenoid wire for if you have voltage drop it can't pull it in fast and hard enough to align the teeth. Damaged teeth can do this, with the key off you can use a proper socket/wrench and rotate the crank a few degrees to get to better teeth on the ring gear.

Using a wooden dowel (broomstick, block of wood and a hammer you can sometimes give the starter a smack which will jarr the brushes into contact. I have don't know your skill level and if you were planning on making the repairs yourself. I don't mind going into more detail, but you can go to some repair shops and they will test some of this for free.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[SRiz]

well im planningon taking the starter off soon to do a visual test of the teeth and brushes see if i wanna rebuild it or just get a new one. how hard is it to get out what is the process im guessing either under the carr unbolt it and pull down or take the battery out and take it out from that angle...

 

[wret]

It looks harder than it is. Disconnect the batter of course. You need to remove the upper intake pipe to ge access to the two bolts. They can be hard to find with all the wires and cables running through there but once you find them, they are not hard to get a wrench on and turn. Disconnect the wires and pull the starter out from underneath. You will need to orient it correctly to slide it over the steering rack but it comes right out.

I had symptoms like what you decribed. Due to my over-analysis it took me three days to get it running again instead of a couple hours. The parts shop bench tested my starter and it ran but with a little more current draw than normal. To make a long story short, after testing and replacing several parts of the system I finally put in the new starter and it ran like a top.

Do shop around for starters. One local store had them for about $50 more than the other.

 

[GTM]

well im planningon taking the starter off soon to do a visual test of the teeth and brushes see if i wanna rebuild it or just get a new one. how hard is it to get out what is the process im guessing either under the carr unbolt it and pull down or take the battery out and take it out from that angle...

If you have not had any problem with the starter _zinging_ (coined word) when it doesn't engage but starts to spin and chews up teeth then then you probably will not find any damage.

Things to look for once the starter is out, inspect the solenoid terminal connection, make sure it's not loose, bent, or burned. Inspect the battery cable connection post and the post for the brush power for loosness or overheated conditions. Smell them, nothing like a good nose for the odor of overheated / burned wires is important. It may take an impact driver to loosen the screws to remove the solenoid. Be careful here for I've seen too many butchered screws from novice mechanics expecially if they are a Phillips head.

Removing the end cap is straight forward, however, brushes can be a problem as you work the cover off. If there is a lot of grunge in the holders or they are significantly worn you may have found your problem. Look at the comutator for arcing and deep wear, this too will be the most critical observation and reason for buying a rebuilt. Burned / shorted armature wires and then field wires will be the next most common failures and reason to replace the starter.

Another caution, there may be thrust washers at either end of the starter armature, don't get them mixed up or you will cause the armature to not spin correctly or the brushes to ride incorrectly on the comutator and the pinion gear to not mesh correctly. You will need a certain amount of freeplay for thrust but it can't be too loose or tight. It's possible to make your own thrust washers if you have a bench grinder, find the correct ID and then grind the OD to size by using a Phillips screwdriver as the axle and let it spin against the grind wheel. It's quick and dirty but gets you out of trouble when you don't have spares. Clean all the dust and grung out, clean bushings and lube with small amount of petrolium jelly or graphite (different schools of thought).

You will need a small mirror and good light source for inspecting ring gear teeth. If 1/3 of a tooth is damaged you may be ok, however, if you have several in a row then call to question the ring gear. One of the more common problems that sets off a starter/ring gear problem is having low compression on one cylinder. As the engine comes to a stop it will skip through the low compression cylr and stop at the next higher compression cylr. The starter motor always sees this same spot and it wears excessively leaving the rest looking new. From your descriptions I don't think you have this problem but something to look for.

Just make sure all your cables, fuses, relays are clean and tight for you don't want to do this job only to find out it's something else.

Keep us posted, ask questions if needed.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[SRiz]

WOW starters are fun ... my local DSM shop will put a NEW starter in my car for 160 INSTALLED which is the price alone for most rebuilt starters... I might see if i can just buy the starter off them and maybe get a good price when i give them my core.
Thanks for all the help guys,
Sam

 

[IslanderTsi]

A good way to see whats up with it is this. Next time it just clicks give the starter a few light taps ( Donts smash it) with a hammer. Then try starting it. If it turns over you know what the problem is or are at least on the right track. tapping it loosens up the magnets i believe if they are stuck.

 

[SRiz]

just got a new starter from advanced auto... its a worldwide brand and it has a LIFETIME replacement warentte!! it was only 100bux it took me about and hour alltogether to take off and put on, but it starts right up now , no more clicking one other thing is there a way to clean the ignition key thing cause mine sometimes doesnt go when i turn all the way i have to hit it or angle the key a certain way... THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS

 

[GTM]

just got a new starter from advanced auto... its a worldwide brand and it has a LIFETIME replacement warentte!! it was only 100bux it took me about and hour alltogether to take off and put on, but it starts right up now , no more clicking one other thing is there a way to clean the ignition key thing cause mine sometimes doesnt go when i turn all the way i have to hit it or angle the key a certain way... THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS

You had to make a judgment call, if you kept the old starter you could possibley rebuild and sell to recover some of your costs. Do you have spare keys? you might take one of them and fiddle with a file, wire brush or small grinding stone to put a chamfer on the tip. WD-40 can make a difference Or, powdered graphite / teflon can also help.

Cheers
GTM

 

[SRiz]

thanx ill ty that

 

[SRiz]

hey thers no more clicking but its doing this now http://media.putfile.com/0321061419 ... as u can see the voltage is 12.6 more than enough to start.... and its not doing anything other than tring to take power from my 12v ignition ACC heres a vid of it acually starting http://media.putfile.com/0321061423 I have to angle the key and turn it very hard to start it ... is there a way to fix this other than an entirely ne key system...

 

[GTM]

hey thers no more clicking but its doing this now http://media.putfile.com/0321061419 ...
...

I would like to encourage you to start a new thread describing this problem and what you have tried as a possible solutions. You can return here and edit a previous post giving a URL or subject title to the new thread which will hopefully attract those who have experienced a similar problem.

Cheers,
GTM

 

[SRiz]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1847473#post1847473 link to new thread you can close this one ... good fourm to show member what a bad starter is like....