Starter

[cccpman]

I need to pick up a starter, what years will fit on a 1990. I was going to go grab a new one but I read all the posts of what a nightmare it is to get a non OEM starter in there. Right now I have found a 93, two 94's and a 95 starter (rebuilt) that I can pick up tomorrow

Sadly mine went out, no warning... thought it could have been a number of things... replaced it all and my fears were correct, its the starter. Banging away at it didnt help. 5 hours away from home. Need to get the car out of that parking lot tomorrow or im sure they will destroy the tran when they go to tow

good times

[Q451990]

I'm not sure on the cross refrence - I'm pretty sure everything from 90-96 should work - although the older starter seem to have fewer failures. The rare failures we have seen tend to be on the later years.

Did you check the blue starter relay and confirm that you have voltage at the starter? We tend to see more problems with that relay or something with the alarm system vs. problems with the actual starter.

Good luck!

Heath

[cccpman]

Well no I have not checked it yet, im not an electrician or a mechanic, never toyed with a starter. What I do know is there are no loose connections, the battery is new (I replaced it right there to make sure it was good as I didn't have a voltmeter) the fuses are all good, the car has gas, the fuel pump is working correctly as is the FPCU

I attempted to start the car originally, it cranked for about 2 seconds made a couple horrible noises and stopped. I have had the chain guides replaced so im 99.9% sure no problems there, as nobody has had a metal guide fail that i know of. Maybe just a random fluke, so I tried again, all I get is a click. I know the volts are moving because the lights dim etc, im guessing its a starter issue... if its not maybe you can point me the right direction

[Q451990]

Well, it doesn't sound like a relay - given the "click" and the dimming lights. I have had a loose battery cable cause something like this before - but that's about my only guess. Given the "horrible noise" your starter may be toast. It's probably time to pull it and see what's going on either way. It might be worth your time to pull the starter and have it bench tested before you buy a new (used) one.

Oh, and it's fine to flat bed tow the car. Just have them use a winch to load it. In a pinch, you can tow it front wheels down - but it's not a great idea. The only time you will toast the transmission is towing it rear wheels down.

Heath

[cccpman]

not a battery connection as it was replaced on the spot

I wish i could get the store to flat bed it but I think they are more for the 'always low prices' then they are for saving the car so I will just replace it (starter) tomorrow

I plan on tearing into the old starter to see what the hell went wrong - the rebuilt one is not that expensive and knowledge is priceless right riiiiight...

[goody90q45]

Well, it doesn't sound like a relay - given the "click" and the dimming lights. I have had a loose battery cable cause something like this before - but that's about my only guess.

Check both connections at the battery real close. I had the exact symptoms and replaced the starter only to find out it was a bad battery clamp (+). The OEM ones wear out and I had put a thin piece of lead in as a spacer. If you're not getting a tight fit on the post this could easily be the problem.

[cccpman]

the fit is pretty good actually, I didnt have tools on me when it died and it took half an hour just to pull the damn things off

But - any advice is good advice! I will go take a look before picking up the starter. I dont have any lead to use as a spacer to double check, anything around the house or at an auto shop you can recommend? Or how about just running a voltmeter from one clamp to the other to know?

Thanks for all the advice, there are so many little tricks to keeping these cars on the road

[DrewQ45]

Do the cheapest things first. Clean the battery terminals. If you don't have a wirebrush, a tootbrush and some brake parts cleaner or sandpaper should suffice. When the starter was being banged on, did someone have the key in crank position? Did you use heavy metal such as a lug tool? If yes, try backing and cranking alternately with the key while it's being banged.

...Drew...

[cccpman]

not sure what you mean exactly by backing and cranking - we moved up on the amount of force to a 8 lb mini sledge eventually and it was small enough you could actually use it

Tonight I looked further into the problem, the starter relay (blue box) actually light up a couple times, Im thinking it was sparking... not normal I would hope! I have taken it apart, im going to go plug it in now that I have soldered the magnet connections, the resistor, etc and cleaned the area where it connects

After banging on the starter enough, it makes the click noise, lights dim, and when the key is released from the start position it makes a spinning sound. Maybe the teeth on the starter are all worn... not sure

I expected some problems after the rebuild, parts took a lot of wear in the collision and im thinking this blue box may be the problem. However I tried to manually turn the engine - couldnt get it to budge (used leg power mind you)... how many ft/lbs do you guesstimate it takes to start turning because I have no doubt I hit 100 at least (probably a lot more)

Interesting this car I love so much puts up a fight over everything

[96Qowner]

Any chance a bad injector filled a cylinder with fuel = hydrolock?

[cccpman]

anything is possible, I will retest my injectors

The fact that we couldnt turn the engine by hand is what worries me, hydrolock or the engine somehow seized up (good on all fluids, even now)
Modified by cccpman at 1:02 PM 9/29/2007