Thread: Starter motor..."click.....click"...

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Well....the car seems all dried out...I got her up to temp in the
garage....started it about 6-7- times to make sure.

Then took it out on the road for about 45 minutes.....temp got to 189 (normal)....stopped at a store,....got going again...stopped at a 7-11 and when I got back in and tried to start it...."click".....tried again and it fired.

got home.....then in the driveway tried to start it again..."click"......"click"...I have 12 volts on my meter,...then it jumps to 0 when I try to fire and get my click...then back to 12 where it should be.

This is a 3 week old, new tiny starter wrapped in heat shielding (to protect from header heat).

Any ideas on this one?.......Possibly related to moisture? From previous washing incident?(doubtful).....

The car has started/stopped and run fine ...this "click" has never happened before.....

Don't I do a great job of keeping this forum filled with questions?..:_)

Tsk, tsk, tsk. You sure you want to keep at this???

Check all electrical connections for tight and corrosion, both at starter and batt. Especially if your batt is in the trunk (meaning long cables and resultant load), given boy racer history of your car it wouldn't surprise me. Also, if it is remote you could have marginal gauge of wire too.

Just because the voltmeter shows 12v at no load doesn't mean it's fully charged. The drop to 0 shows what volts you're getting under load. Again, it could be high resistance from bad connection or "light" gauge wire. Also, with all the start cycles you did you may have drawn down the battery more than a 45 minute run cycle could compensate for, especially if your alt belt a a bit loose, or if there's corrosion at the terminals.

That should keep you busy for a little while longer , then let us know what you learn..............................again.

I got the car BECAUSE of the opportunity to learn about something I know nothing about :-)

1) 0 volts under load at start sounds bad?...doesnt it?....

2) I will check wires,...they are large gauge though,...I know that much......

3) I will check alt belt.

4) I will check connections.......

IT DOES seem odd that this happened out of the blue,....I am thinking possibly the multiple start cycles could be responsible since that is the only 'new' variable in an otherwise proven equation. (not that anything is proven on this vehicle previously owned by Murphy himself.......)

Any more ideas always appreciated,....I will report back after further testing......

The Advance auto parts by my house offers a FREE electrical alt/battery test......that might be a good idea.....

ALSO....the battery has 3 CONNECTIONS?....Ground, Positive,..and a third coming off the side....whats up with that???

Thanks again guys!!!!

OK....more info........

1) After totally cooling down car still went "click" upon trying to start.

2) After a jumpstart it fired right up fine and dandy.....

3) I drove it to Advanced where they tested the battery, alternator and starter.......all were good,....perfectly fine.

So there is NO WAY the battery was dead when it was "click"ing....it could not have charged up fully in the 2 mile drive to the store.

So I am looking toward an electrical issue......particularly maybe a slightly corroded ground connection (batttery in trunk....heavy guage run to front by starter motor).......or perhaps the starter solenoid which was on the firewall and surely got SOAKED!....
If it was a ground issue,.......when I jumped it , it would have pulled ground from the jeep. BUT then again,....the radio and lights worked fine when it was clicking...so HOW could it have been a ground issue?

Perhaps the starter solenoid>?.......

It has since been fine.......ran fine,...stopped and started just fine.

I do not see HOW the eariler 6-7 quick starts could have caused this.....??

Any ideas auto gurus?......Streetz?......Bob??.....

Jim,

What is the source of the "click"? Solenoid or starter?

Dan J

Well,....since it is not doing it anymore....from memory it was hard to tell.....

It was a definate "click"....the solenoid is mounted right on the firewall,passenger side,...and the new inty starter motor is located below it on the tranny....

The sound seemed to pissibly eminate from the solenoid.....but it was hard to tell being in the drivers seat and all.
The radio, lights..etc..etc. all worked. It was a loud click (as far as clicks go).....very mechanical with a sharp attack and quick decay (sound speak there :-).....At the moment of click, the voltometer pegged 0,...then jumped right back to 12.

I know that is not much to go on,....but its all I have right now. Tomorrow I plan on testing it some more and checking ground connections for corrosions,...and I have disconected the solenoid wires and sprayed it all down with GUNK wire dryer.

I HATE intermittency,....I had hoped for a bad alternator.....

Make sure that the battery is grounded to the engine AND the body. A lack of body ground can lead to high resistence, which will cause the problems you talk about. A quick test, take a set of jumper cables and and hook one cable from engine ground to a body ground point, and see if that helps.

Jim,

If the starter was trying to engage, I believe that there would be more than a "click"... I'm thinking more "clunk" or a grinding noise. Probably not the starter. I would lean toward the solenoid.

Also (I'm trying to confirm this) I think that some solenoids, or more likely the ignition switch/relay, will disconnect normal electrical circuits during a "start" so that all current is used for powering the starter... ever notice in some cars how the lights will go out just before the starter is engaged? Anyway, there is a remote possibility that the starter switch or even the neutral safety switch is involved in your problem.

Maybe this will get someone else to remember a similar problem.

Dan J

Curly,....good idea....if it does it again, I will try that. ALthough there are actually 2 grounds coming off the battery,...1 goes to the frame in the trunk...........the other runs up to the starter motor area.

Dan,

Definately no clunk or attempted start..just a "click"
What you say makes sense. The instant of a start does shut everything down for a pslit second. This did NOT happen during the "click" (I think it didnt anyway as the radio was on I think).
I really need this to happen again to explore some of these things. Although in a way I hope it was solenoid related from the moisture........and afterthe cleaning WILL NOT happena again.........

Thanks again guys! I've learned so much from this forum,....hopefully I can contribute eventually.