Carpaholic

iTrader: (1)

Occasionally when I turn the key I get a single click noise. Its more of a click/clank sound. I turn the key to the off position and try again and it usually fires right up. This only happens two times at most before the car starts up.

This doesn't happen when the car is cold or warmed up exclusively, its totally random. When this doesn't happen, the car fires up right when I turn the key.

I don't have any issues with dimming lights when I start the car or anything and don't seem to have any alternator issues that I know of. Could it possibly be the starter or could it be electrical, like a ground or something?

xFeveredx

check your battery terminals, clean up up real good and make sure theyre down tight.
this used to happen to me in my mazda all the time :S

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Sometimes that happens to me too! It may be a low battery or a bad starter solenoid. Im gonna replace my starter soon. Hopefully itll take care of the problem. I fworst comes to worst, a reman starter from Autozone is around $50 with the core exchange.

camaronewbie

Happens to me all the time. It's an issue with your ignition wiring somewhere. The purple wire that runs to the starter is not getting all the juice it needs, for whatever reason. I've been fighting with this issue in my car now for over a year, I replaced everything from starter all the way back, and I still have the issue.

I found my problem last week - maybe your is the same ....

My neutral safety switch - the connector for it, doesn't connect well. It's a replaced connector (my car's previous owner obviously had the same issue and tried to correct), and the NSS is new (I just put a new one in). But after all the fooling around, I never noticed (until last week) that the issue is not my connector, or the switch, but the poor connection that the two make with each other.

So, for me I'm going to get another connector and try to see if there's a way I can get them to connect to one another better.

There's a good troubleshooting guide for starting system here: http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=38

And your wiring diags here: http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=19

Carpaholic

iTrader: (1)

I never thought about the neutral safety switch being a potential issue. I'm going to try to remember my "Survey of Electronics" class and try the follow that wire diagram. Thanks for the link and potential lead. If you change that connector and it works let me know.

I'll still look into the battery and some other stuff....

Chevy86 IROC-Z

iTrader: (17)

Could it be an ignition switch issue too?

Damon

If it clicks it ain't any of those things. If any of that stuff was bad it wouldn't click at all.

The problem I have found is that the spur gear on the starter sometimes doesn't want to engage with the teeth on the flywheel/flexplate. They hit "tooth to tooth" and don't mesh. If they don't mesh power will never be transmitted from the solenoid to the starter motor. Hence, a click or a "clank" noise and nothing more. Hit the key a few times more and the spur gear will eventually engage and then the engine will start totally normal like there was never a problem at all.

Can drive you bonkers. I know it drove me bonkers before I figured it out. Now when I run across this problem I can diagnose it lickety split. Some starters have the problem BAD. Sometimes 20 or 30 key turns before it engages and fires. Some have it only occasionally. Most never have the problem, obviously.

How to fix? No way to fix it except to replace the starter becuase the spur gear was simply machined incorrectly. Shimming won't affect the problem much. The problem has to do with the teeth being too thick and the bevel on their front edge not being adequate.

camaronewbie

This is NOT true. I'm telling you - you can get plenty enough amperage to the starter solenoid to make it click, but not enough to actually make it operate.

A starter solenoid is simply a large relay. It takes X amount of amperage to activate the coil inside a relay - and it takes X amount of amperage to activate the solenoid on a starter.

A simple 12v 30 amp SPDT automotive relay requires about 200 milliamps to activate the coil inside. If you were to feed that same relay (let's say) 100 milliamps instead - it could easily be enough to make the relay "click" once - but not enough amperage to keep the coil energized continuously.

Same with a starter solenoid - it's easy to feed it enough current to get it to "click" - but it requires more current to keep it's internal coil energized long enough for the starter to actually turn.

Likie I said - I've been fighting this issue for over a year, and I know exactly what I'm talking about here - and it sounds to me like the OP has the same issue.

Test my theory - take your purple starter wire, and somewhere between the firewall and the starter, cut 1/2 of the copper wires inside out of a 1 inch section - then tell me your solenoid doesn't click without starting. You reduce the amperage required for the solenoid by cutting 1/2 of the wire able to transport that amperage, and you'll get clicks all day without the starter turning.

OP - it's an easy test for you - take a 10 gauge wire, touch positive battery terminal and the terminal on the starter where the purple wire connects - if the starter turns every time you touch ity, then your starter is fine, your gear teeeth are fine, your flywheel is fine - everything is fine EXCEPT an issue with that purple wire - it's not getting the full current it needs to fully activate the starter solenoid.

Damon

OK.

You might think I had never done this before.

A single click and nothing more is what I described. And if I had thought of it at the time there is one other explanation.... if the starter motor itself has a dead spot it can act the same way. Solenoid engages (clicks once) but motor doesn't turn.

Carpaholic

iTrader: (1)

I'll give that a whirl first, now that you explained it a bit easier this time

bobbyk3lly

same thing happend to me it was a bad starter soilenoid on mine, try replacing that or getting a new starter,

Bronze85

Sounds like a starter replacement is needed, I had the same symptom and that is what it turned out to be.

Zaar

Just replace the starter and the solenoid is there too...
my car did the same thing and that was the cause hopefully your install wont be as much a bear as my install was, what a pain in the rear on your back with a jack. Anyone selling a lift lol i am getting tired of pavement crawling lol...

Firstlady1937

Went to O'Reilly to buy a new battery 2 days ago,It was late when I got home so a neighbor of mines put battery in because I had to be to work for 8am.Found out the battery is to big for my car and it wasn't a new battery after all.Because of my work schedule and the distance of the drive I had no one to bring me to oreilly so this morning I called to see if I can bring back batter and get my money back the guys on the phone says no I can't get my money and he will see if can find me a battery that looks new and replace it.WTF and where they do that at????