HELP! My RB25 won't start anymore.

[3bar_dc2]

So last year I picked up a stock auto 95 240sx. I only drove it about 10 miles before yanking out the ka for a RB25. Last night I finally got to start the car and it started up first try. I turned the car on and off approx. 10 times with no issues. I tried to start the car again and it wouldn't start. I don't hear any clicking from the starter and the dash lights are nice and bright. The only thing that happens when I try to start the car is the clock light dims, but otherwise it makes no attempt to turn over. The fuel pump primes and everything else seems normaI. I just put a brand new battery and terminals in last week as well. I'm thinking it may be an ignition switch but I'm not 100% sure. I took the ignition switch apart to make sure the contacts were clean and right now I'm fresh out of ideas. The fact that it started effortlessly the first 10 times and now it won't even make an attempt to turn the starter boggles me. Any one else have any other ideas that I may not be thinking of that I can try?

Thanks,
Sean

[jey_253]

See if the wire at the bottom of the starter slid of it's clip. Happened to me once.

[3bar_dc2]

See if the wire at the bottom of the starter slid of it's clip. Happened to me once.

I did check that as well. I did forget to mention that as I kept trying to crank the car over, it did catch once but that was it. Does this sound like a faulty ignition switch? None of the lights on the cluster dim when I'm trying to start the car, only the backlight for the clock.

Thanks,
Sean

[RustspecS13]

Try jumping the starter directly, that 1 wire goes directly to 12v and it should turn right over.

~Alex

[3bar_dc2]

Try jumping the starter directly, that 1 wire goes directly to 12v and it should turn right over.

~Alex

Alright, I just checked the wire going to battery power and it's showing 12.51v. I also checked the signal wire while the ignition was in the start position and it goes to just under 12v, so I can rule out the ignition switch. Any other ideas? The started doesn't click at all and the fuel pump is priming as normal. I can hear a relay click as I'm trying to start the car under the driverside kick panel. I also tried jumping the car and still nothing.

Thanks,
Sean

[3bar_dc2]

I just tried jumping the starter straight to the battery and still nothing. Does this mean bad starter? I'm seriously out of things to check here. Please help!

Thanks,
Sean

[3bar_dc2]

After more research, I think the starter burned up. I just noticed that when I turn the key to the start position, it stays in that position unless I back the key off a little bit. I'm thinking this may have burned up my starter, which explains why it just quit all of a sudden. My question now is what would cause the key to get stuck in that position, the lock cylinder or ignition switch? I would assume lock cylinder but just making sure. Thanks!

[RustspecS13]

I would check and see that the starter is getting the right signal, as in it only gets 12v at the signal wire in the start position, and no signal in the run position.

If thats good, its probably your ignition lock and the switch should be ok. As for the starter, I would take it to a rebuilder and see if it can rebuilt. If not, check the interchange thread as subie starters are suppose to work.

~Alex

[Seanzyyy]

turn your headlights on and try to start.
if they don't dim i'm fairly certain it's a bad starter.

[l0nestar]

Sean,

If you need an RB starter, PM me.

[3bar_dc2]

I got it figured out. After calling NAPA and having them tell me they couldn't get the reman Datsun starter and the only new one they had was in Anchorage, Alaska, I started looking for someone to rebuild the current starter. I couldn't find anybody to rebuild this thing to save my life. I decided to take the starter apart since I had nothing to lose at this point, and I'm glad I did. I noticed one of the brushes was seized in the holder and another one close to the same. I took them out and sanded the rust off the brushes and holders, greased everything else back up, and put it all back together. I bench tested it and threw it back in and all is well now.

Now for another question. The car idled and sounds great, but when I went to adjust the CAS, the idle started jumping up and down and would try to stall out on decel so I couldn't get the timing right. I've cleaned the MAF as well as shielded the wires to the MAF (with aluminum foil since I don't have shielded wire. I'm told it works). I don't think I have a boost leak since it idled great until I started messing with the cas. Is there something I need to unplug before adjusting the timing (ie. tps)? Does the ecu have to go through some sort of relearning one the cas is moved? It appears the ecu has a light on it so I was going to pull the codes from it, but I've searched everywhere and couldn't find the method or the codes for the rb25.

Thanks again to everyone who replied. You guys definitely helped me narrow down the problem.

-Sean