the last couple of days, sometimes when I start my car, all I hear is a click, I have to try 2 or 3 more times before it actually attempts to start. this morning, same thing, but I hear the starter trying to move a bit but it doesn't.
is my starter about to die?
I have had symptoms of a bad starter before and came to find out it was actually the battery that was bad. Take it down to Advance Auto and have them check it out with their machine for free.
Might be worth getting the chassis grounds checked, and cleaned as well before swapping out a starter, if the battery checks out.
I've seen this sort of problems for several reasons:
1) Weak battery. The battery has enough juice to engage the solenoid, but as soon as the solenoid engages, the battery doesn't have enough juice to actually turn over the engine. Usually you get a series of clicks. 2) Bad or corroded cable from the battery to the starter or a bad or corroded ground cable. 2) The solenoid is bad or at least on the was out. When I had this symptom on my Toyota (clicks, but no start), it was because the starter solenoid was going. bad For my particular car (a Cressida), Toyota did not sell a replacement solenoid, only a complete starter ($400+). Fortunately a local rebuilder had parts available that could be used to repair mine. In my case the only thing wrong was a burned out contact. It looked sort of like a copper bolt. The guy at the rebuilder just gave me one. In the case of my farm tractors, I have seen solenoids become contaminated with clutch dust to the point that the slug can't move enough to complete the circuit and engage the starter motor. 3) Bad commutator (and / or brushes). I have starters where a spot was burned on the commutator. If the starter's armature happens to be positioned such that the brushes were at this point, the starter would not turn over. Sometimes if you repeatedly try to start the car, it will eventually move the armature just enough so that the commutator moves off the bad spot and the starter operates. 4) Bad teeth on the starter drive gear and are the flywheel (flex plate for automatics). When new, the gear teeth of the starter drive and corresponding teeth on the flywheel (or flexpalte for automatics) have beveled edges. This allows for the case where the starter drive and flywheel are positioned such that a tooth on the starter gear is directly opposite a tooth on the flywheel instead of opposite a grove (the valley between gear teeth). The beveled edges will guide the starter tooth into the groove. When the teeth are properly engaged, the solenoid completes the circuit and the starter motor operates. If the teeth are damaged either on the starter drive or the flywheel or both, then it is possible that the teeth hit solid (tooth to tooth so to speak) and the teeth on the drive gear are not "guided" into the groves between the teeth of the flywheel. In this cause you can get a very audible clang. Sometimes repeatedly trying to start the car will move one element or another enough so that the drive can properly engage and start the car. I've only personally seen this once (an old European built Ford Capri). Turning the engine slightly by hand moved the flywheel enough so that the teeth could properly engage and the car started immediately.I'd suggest the following:
1) Have the battery checked to verify it has sufficient power to start the car. Places like AutoZone will do this for free. 2) If the battery is good, verify that your battery cables are in good shape (on both ends) and that they are not corroded. Clean the connections at the battery. 3) If the cables are good and you still have a problem, remove the starter and examine the teeth on the drive gear (and on the flywheel - you'll need to have someone turn the engine over so you can see them all the teeth). If the teeth look good, move on to the next step. 4) Assuming the teeth on the starter drive and the flywheel are good, have the starter tested. Places like AutoZone will do this for free. If you have gotten this far, it is likely that the failure is the solenoid. I have seen cases where places like AutoZone did not detect some failure modes (like the solenoid contacts are burned, but still good enough to operate a starter on the bench, or there is a burned spot on the cummutator). If they say the starter is good and you still have a problem, you will need to start looking for obscure problems, but I doubt that will happen. It is probably just a bad solenoid which may or may not be available as a separate part.Ed.
Read this... 'fix yo own chit'
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.