Abnormal no start problem - Thinking starter issue

[Redslayer]

Tonight when I went to leave the beach, my car wouldn't turn over at all. No click, no nothing. No reaction to the key being turned. I turned my headlights on, and they didn't seem any more dim than they usually are when the car is running.

So we tried to push start it (these cars are surprisingly heavy btw). And we didn't have enough room. But after the first attempt, it started. Albeit slower than usual, normally.

About 20 minutes later I had to shut it down because I needed food. When I went to start it, it cranked really slow, almost like the battery was low. But fired, and ran fine after that. I then drove it an hour and a half home. (Which almost turned bad when a child ran into the highway...) it ran perfectly fine. When I got home I shut it off and immediately tried to restart it, and it fired no problem.

So tomorrow I have to start trying to sort this out. Figured I'd post here incase anyone has any ideas. I'll be checking the battery first, and if it checks out, I'm going to replace the starter. But if it then continues to have an issue, then that's where I'll need some help and ideas. Wish me luck, and throw out some ideas! thanks.

 

[andyhtd05]

corrosion is resistance and drops voltage, enough corrosion would cause enough voltage drop to not run the starter, energy has to go somewhere and in your case the resistance was transferring energy into heat instead of motion at the starter

 

[TunedUp]

From my experience in a dealership my step one would have been battery test step 2 would have been voltage drop across battery cables. You would have known your issue in a day if not less. Wish I could have chimed in earlier and helped you, but I did see someone say do the voltage drop. Glad it's fixed so far!

 

[Redslayer]

corrosion is resistance and drops voltage, enough corrosion would cause enough voltage drop to not run the starter, energy has to go somewhere and in your case the resistance was transferring energy into heat instead of motion at the starter

Yep, all seems well now. My cable is a little short but whatever . Still going to replace a few more connections for the grounds just to be 100% sure.

From my experience in a dealership my step one would have been battery test step 2 would have been voltage drop across battery cables. You would have known your issue in a day if not less. Wish I could have chimed in earlier and helped you, but I did see someone say do the voltage drop. Glad it's fixed so far!

Yeah, I had so much going on these last few weeks, my patience were far below what I needed to mess with it . I had just started looking into the voltage drop test and how to do it correctly, when I decided to cut into that wire to see how it looked.

Funny how a little bit of corrosion inside the coating of a wire, can cause so much havoc. It's also weird that it started acting up so suddenly when it was completely fine before . Thankfully, I have learned to walk away. in my younger years I probably would have broken a bunch of stuff and maybe even pushed the car out into the river

Glad it's fixed for now, I really didn't need that crap right now. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions and help. That was amazingly enough, the first time I've ever had a problem with corrosion in a car.

 

[TunedUp]

Haha I hear ya on pushing the car in the river. I have thought about it a couple times with mine. Heck I have had it for like 7 months and been able to drive it 4 times, but that is my fault for buying 5k in parts for it and doing it all at once.

You would be amazed what corrosion can actually do I have seen tons of no starts or intermittent no starts and never failed if the battery was good it was the cables which is why it is now my step 2 in my process. I have also seen a hairline crack in a positive cable where just enough condensation could get in to start corrosion back then I had just started as a tech so I didn't know to do a voltage drop and spent 2 12hr days trying to figure it out. Like I said before sorry I couldn't have helped sooner, because I would have been happy to explain how to do a voltage drop test.

 

[Redslayer]

Haha I hear ya on pushing the car in the river. I have thought about it a couple times with mine. Heck I have had it for like 7 months and been able to drive it 4 times, but that is my fault for buying 5k in parts for it and doing it all at once.

You would be amazed what corrosion can actually do I have seen tons of no starts or intermittent no starts and never failed if the battery was good it was the cables which is why it is now my step 2 in my process. I have also seen a hairline crack in a positive cable where just enough condensation could get in to start corrosion back then I had just started as a tech so I didn't know to do a voltage drop and spent 2 12hr days trying to figure it out. Like I said before sorry I couldn't have helped sooner, because I would have been happy to explain how to do a voltage drop test.

Haha. It's all good. At least now I know if I ever run into something like that again, that it's most likely hidden corrosion I can't see.

I'll have to do voltage drop test further down though, because right by the terminal would have passed . Owell. I'm just glad it's good now. I needed that break.