Ok..my car has been doing this for awhile and usually after it sits for acouple of days. I turn the key, everything lights up as normal but the starter just clicks. I've done a search here and found that acouple others have had the same trouble but with no resolution..so I don't want to just change my starter and not actually fix the problem. The strange thing was that if I moved the engine, either by hand or buy rolling the car alittle in gear, the starter would start working and the car would start. It would seem that the two are completely unrelated systems but obviously it worked..until now. The car has been sitting for two weeks since the lower ball joint let go on my wife and it won't turn over no matter what I do. It's not desparate seeing as the ball joint was the last straw and she bought herself a new car so it's no longer a daily driver...but it should still start lol.

I would like to wish you luck in resolving this one...
It's had me going in circles, and I've had multiple discussions here regarding it. Just search for my member # and starter, you'll see!

If there's anything you should try, it's to clean up the ground and power lines for the starter, and make sure the battery terminals are in great shape.

when it does click, does it try to start but it couldn't?

best way to know is a ananlog volt meter or digital I guess, to see if the voltae drops alot when you crank.

Or I guess the check engine light remain on when you crank, does that light get dimmer?


if it does, then the starter is trying to crank but it is stuck. It could be internal to th eengine and how much friction it has.


Short of that I think the solenoid couldn't sometimes engage. You could try borrowing a starter from someone and try it, should cost you no more than half an hour of swapping time.

It doesn't seem to be trying at all. The lights dim slightly but not enough for me to think the starter is actually trying to go.

I can buy a new starter (I don't have anyone to borrow from) I just wanted to make sure it's not something else..

Thanks!

you could borrow one from me if it is only for testing. I have bunch of 1G ones kicking around.

it could be just a matter of clean up.

Well...it's always be alittle slow..so it's probably due for a new one anyways. I was hoping it would last alittle longer. I want to build a 6 bolt and would just switch starts and engines at the same time...this doesn't look like a fun job.....

Rob..I've read all of your posts which prompted me to post this in the first place instead of just buying a starter. My biggest problem now is that the car is outside and winter is approaching!!! AND the car is almost in the middle of my driveway...so the towtruck driver could get the dollies out from under it lol. I guess I'll need some pushers...

At this point, I'm still calling out the MPI
Only because I have literally tried everything else.

Don't be scared to try and pull the starter - it is all too easy when you take the battery out first.
Disconnecting the lines after you get it unbolted can make it easier too.

Has anyone ever tried running a new ground wire from one of the starter bolts to a good chassis ground

I've got a brand new cable straight from the battery negative to the starter.
There's one already from the factory, I just replaced it.

Rick


try taking the startet spart and fixing it. just clean sh!t ! I got a year from a starter doing that, or maybe I never had to change it since then, I am not sure

That's what I'll try Amin. The car's not going anywhere soon so if it's actually that easy to take off (I find it hare to believe that it's only 1/2 an hour!!) I'll clean it up and bench test it. If it works..great..if not it needed to come out anyways.

Before you following any of my advice, check if your battery terminals are clean and tight! Check if any grounds around that area are all good!

I remember I had a similar problem. It turned out the starters main ground to the bell housing wasn't good. So I cleaned the area up and torqued the bolts to specs and vola!, it never gave me that problem again.

A simple test you can do to rule out the battery is to see what kind of draw your battery takes. Get a multi-meter (Select DC voltage) and put it on the battery terminals. Have someone crank the car and see if your getting 9.6V's or more. If your getting less than 9.6V's than its your battery.

If your getting more, then you have to look somewhere else. You said that the relay clicks so that means you have ruled all possible connections until that relay. And your ignition switch is working as well or the relay won't click.

Try knocking the solenoid a little bit with a bar and see if it turns on. If it does, that means your starter solenoid is no good.

You can bench test the starter onces its out of the car. Hook up the battery charger to the starter. Put the Red lead to the positive side of the starter (Where the battery wire connects) and put the black lead to the starter case. Get a jumper wire and connect it where the the red lead is connected and use the other side to the other post which doesn't have a red lead on it. If the starter spins everytime you toggle that middle post there, that means its not your starter. If nothing happens, that means your solenoid or something in the starter is toast.

If the start works that means you have a bad connection somewhere. Check the wires to your starter and see if there is any corrision. You can test it by putting a multi-meter on it again.

While the starter is in the car, put the red lead of the multi-meter to the positive side of the starter or where the battery wire is connected to and put the negative side of the multi-meter on the other side of the positive wire (Close to the battery positive post). If you crank it and you get more than 0.1V drop, the wire is no good.

Ok...it was the battery!!!! After I let the car sit for acouple of days I tried to start it again. This time I noticed the DRL got noticably dim...so I put my booster pak on it..still no go...so I put my charger on it for half an hour and then used the boost feature and Viola it started. The only thing I can think of is that the battery itself is eff'd because the car would do this every so often (as I mentioned in the first post) then work fine for a month. At least now it is running and I can get into my garage instead of working in the driveway. Thanks for all the advice. I'm thinking of doing a 6-bolt swap or at least a rebuild on this engine so I'll replace the started at that point regardless.