Anyone have any good pics of their starter motor? Something is up with my car and that is the cause of it. At first I thought it would be my alt or battery, but both have proven to be good, all that is left is my starter. Any thoughts? Thanks for the input/pics!

 

Get underneath and rip it out of the car and test it, or have CT test it (it's free).

The starter bolts to the passenger side rear of the block. You can miss it wires from the battery go straight there.

Disconnect your battery prior to attempting to remove it.

It takes a bit of work getting it out the first time as it comes out oddly due to spacing around it, but it can be done. Done it 3 times now on my car.

Just remember to put back the shims correctly else the gears may not mesh correctly.

 

Hard to do with the shims and all? Worry about anything else? How do you test it? Normal test light?

 

I test mine simply by connecting it to a 12 V feed, a spare battery or my battery charger and see if it activates the starter solenoid and spins.

Before you do that, see if you can switch back to your stock ignition coil if that's your problem...

starting cold is the hardest test for an ignition system as it takes a lot of energy to do it.

 

nope starting hot is harder.Reason for cold start is the weaker battery when cold

Get a booster cable,connect it to the battery..Connect the negative on the body of the starter..and touch the positive to the large bolt in the middle and the small bolt beside it(where the connectors go)..you should hear it push and see the gear move out..If it doesnt push its the solenoid,if its weak it could be the brush..if either part is OK you need a new stator..Smell it if smells burnt then its the windings..USual problem is the solenoid ($20)..IF you dont even hear a click it could be it..

If the car is secure..like in a hoist or the like..You can just jam a screwdriver on the two terminals while the ignition is in the ON position..it should run..I dont recommend it though..

Altogether rebuilding these things are piece of cake.And "rebuilds" are usually sandblasted repaired units with a new brushes and solenoid

Daz

 

Why would starting hot be harder?

You mean if the starter itself is hot or the engine is hot?

I meant starting the engine hot is easier on the system, not if the starter is hot.

If the starter is hot then good luck getting that to work properly.

 

Whats the problem with the screwdriver method? I was going to try that today actually, lol how much would it cost me if I got sthe starter fixed if it was wht you said about being burtn out or it makes the ding/tick sound when you try and turn it over. That's what it does. Sometimes it will tick, sometimes it will ding or beep. (Don't know how else to explain it) But see before, I tried boosting it with my friends bmw. Now, took us sometime to figure out where the battery terminals were on the beemer, but when we found them, we hooked it all up, and the car clicked, clicked than kinda turned over, like maybe once. Than it just clicked and beeped after that. Any thoughts?

Yea, it was funny watching us re-tards looking for the terminals, lol

 

Slade do a search on "starter heat soak"...IF the engine is hot then the starter would be hot..lol

you said "starting cold is the hardest test for an ignition system as it takes a lot of energy to do it."
waht takes a lot of energy??Battery is weaker the colder it gets and a bunch of other things the thicker oil..etc etc..but nothing that should affect a starter..Heat soak gives starters MORE of a problem

Daz

 

Tried boosting it up again today. Everything worked up to the point where I went to turn it over. All I got was a crank sound or something. Like the starter wants to go but didn't. (???) I jacked the car up so I could see the starter, and to me, it looked ok but than again, it's me. I don't know what I'm looking for. lol I'm such a goof...

 

Just to expand upon Daz's comment: All electrical devices using copper wires/coils (starter is definetly one of these) have heat problems- the conductivity of copper reduces further and further the higher the temperature goes- i.e. at something like 100* C it's conductivity is 1/2 what it was at 0* C and its gets exponentially worse from there. I wouldn't think heat-soak would be your problem in late November. The 'bang and click' more than likely means a weak solenoid or totally misaligned starter-flywheel/flexplate gears.

 

F*ck man...tired of this. Fix something and than i find another problem. Just something I have to deal with...how much a new/used starter go for with labour costs? I might get it done at a local Green&Ross garage. Helps if you know people