starter clicks but does not crank

[vancouverbc]

re 1991 240sx

The starter is only a couple months old. I hear a clicking which i assume is the solenoid on the starter. I disconnected the small wire going to the solenoid and it receives 12 volts when I turn the ignition to start. The big wire direct from the battery reads 12 volts at the starter.

I just got the car back from a theft. The ignition fuse was blown. I bought a jumpstarter and it does not seem to help.

I don't think there are any fuses around the starter motor. could it be anything other than a weak battery or bad starter?

i guess i could measure cranking volts at the starter if i could find exposed wire.

[crzycav86]

Try bypassing the solenoid. The starter solenoid is the blue box right next to the battery on the left. You can try probing the wires with pins, and connecting them. It might let the car start.

I had this problem on my car after I did some work on it. I think it has something to do with the alarm system being partially disabled.. or something like that.

If that doesn't work, try bypassing the clutch sensor switch. That's the switch that's engaged when you press in the clutch...

And if none of that works, try connecting the battery directly to the starter, and see if it kicks in(leave the car in neutral, of course). The hot wire for the starter is under the intake manifold. There's a connection there that you can open, and run power directly to the starter.

Anyway, those are some things that may help.

[vancouverbc]

I guess if starter does not start with positive side of battery connected directly to starter motor , it has to be starter or weak battery.

I bought a new jumper start and i have recharged it for required 20 hours but it is not flashing as it is supposed to when fully charged.

[crzycav86]

Yeah.. you could try that first. I just mentioned the starter solenoid first because that was the problem in my case.

[vancouverbc]

What causes the clicking sound? I think it is starter solenoid that makes the big click you hear. My solenoid is attached to my starter motor. They are sold as one unit. I took an extention cord and connected the starter to positive terminal of battery and only got some sparks on the terminal. no clicking. I put a screwdriver in the connector that goes to the starter and attached extention cord. It's too dark. The thief took my jumper cable and flashlight.

[crzycav86]

There's a blue relay box to the left of the battery. I think that may be the solenoid for the starter solenoid or something like that. All I know is that I bypassed that relay, and my car worked perfectly. I suffered the same symptoms as you have described.

[vancouverbc]

My box is black and has an ignition coil, egi, egi pump, head light retractor cont, and condenser fan relay.(5 relays) There is a green 30 amp fuse for the ignition switch.(larger than normal car fuses). There is also a 10 amp fuse that is connected to the ignition wire. Maybe they take out the ignition fuses for the alarm and when alarm is disconnected you need to put fuses back.

I have power right to my starter motor so all the relays and fuses have to be conducting. There appears to be only one relay other than main solenoid. It is called inhibitor relay. It is possible that the short that burned out my ignition fuse damaged a relay or switch so it conducts poorly under load. Or maybe starter motor or solenoid was damaged by short.

[L0sT]

i think crazycav is talking about the starter relay located on inner part of the passenger side fender, its a blue box thingy. i replaced mine but i still had the problem of not starting, just clicks, i just replaced my whole starter and fixed the dam problem.

[vancouverbc]

That's probably the inhibitor relay. That must be what clicks because i disconnected my starter motor/starter solenoid and I still heard the click. The starter motor/starter solenoid are sold as one unit for the 91 240sx.I hooked up a battery cable to postive battery and measured volts when i turned ignition to start and only got a voltage drop of .5 volt. I assume this means my starter solenoid is not closing so the motor windings are not in the circuit to drop volts. I know I have power right up to starter motor.I assume when the car thief blew my ignition switch fuse , he also blew the starter solenoid. There may be a fuse somewhere on the starter motor but I doubt it. I did hook up the starter solenoid directly to battery but motor did not start. Lots of noise from the sparking but i don't think there was a solenoid noise.

[vancouverbc]

had a mechanic replace the starter and everything is good now. The mechanic said that the thief might have blown fuse and kept trying to start car and that burned out the starter.Interestingly, the starter that was in the car had nine teeth and the one they put in had 8 teeth. They said that the old starter was not meshing right. I bought the old starter from canadian tire; a retail store. When I was pricing the old starter, one guy did mention that there were two types and you had to get the right one. Anyway, thanks for your help.