wassum

iTrader: (1)

Hey gang,

Ok, so here's my story:

a month or so ago my 98 maxima started getting that weird starter noise. Atleast i assume its the weird starter noise. Anyway, turn the key, car started and made the weird kind of wound up release noise. This got a little worse over the span of a month or so. Now it doesn't seem to spin the starter at all. Just a click and then nothing. I removed the starter and took it to autozone to test it. They hooked it up, ran the test, and it seemed to work just fine. Almost no resistance at all. So i didn't replace it. So now i'm thinking its the flywheel. I look in the hole to check the teeth on the fly wheel and everything looks fine. So i cleaned off the battery terminals and reinstalled the starter. Same thing, click and nothing.

I'm thinking It's either poor grounding, or it is the starter and its just not moving to catch the flywheel. The battery seems to be fine, as all the lights, locks, and stuff work.

My first instinct is to put an extra ground to the starter, but im not really sure where to put it exactly?

Any help or suggestions would be awesome as I just moved to Albany,NY and i have no idea where to find a good mechanic, and i live downtown so i have to move the car by tuesday when they clean the streets.

Thanks

-Chris

wassum

iTrader: (1)

here's a pic of the flywheel:

B_Eaze

iTrader: (3)

sound familiar? http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/516

check that out first

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

It sounds like your starter may still be at fault, if it's old and you plan to keep the car a while it may not be a great loss to change if even if it does not solve the problem.
As
far as installing an additional ground it's probably worth a try. I'm not sure exactly what the starter wiring looks like but you want to add a thick ground wire from the metal body of the starter or where the thick solid black wire connects to the starter to a spot such as the transmission or frame of the car. The main thing is that you find a solid clean spot to make the connection between the starters ground and the vehicles ground.

The same principle works with the battery there is a thick black wire running from the negative terminal of the battery to a solid clean connection on the frame of the car. If this connection was loose, dirty or broken your battery and electrical system would not function very well. And while you are at it make sure your battery terminals are clean, many time people have starting issues because of this simple problem.

wassum

iTrader: (1)

Heh, yeah i read through that. but, the starter seemed to work fine at autozone when they tested it. It fired right up, and had the right voltage? So before i remove the starter again i'd like to try adding a ground, but i'm not sure what to connect to what. Then I'll try the regrease, or just buy a new one and prey it lasts longer than a month.

B_Eaze

iTrader: (3)

What resistance does autozone have it go against? if its something small it will turn no problem. thats the easiest check i can think. try some grease, maybe?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

How did they test the starter? Test it yourself with some jumper cables, see if the gear kicks out and spins properly.

wassum

iTrader: (1)

wow really? that doesn't seem to safe to hook up to jumper cables? lol sounds fun though. So how far does it kick out, and im not sure what to hook up the jumpercables to?

Autozone hooked up all the cables from the starter, then ran there little program thing. Sparked a bit then started spinning. Im guess they have a benchmark for starter voltage. Around like 12 or something?

I'm going to hook a ground wire to it tomorrow and see what happens. I went and picked up multimeter to test all the connections, just to be sure. I'll post the results. Wish me luck....

alset2

iTrader: (1)

when they bench tested it they should have been looking at the amps that the starter is pulling, this is what tells most of the story on a starter,however ,without a load it might test with in specs but not so with a load(on the car)
but sounds like from your description the starter is spinning fine its just not engaging the bendix, as was stated befor a little cleaning and some grease usually will fix that problem

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

It's safe as long as you don't plan on touching the gear while you're applying power. Either jumper cables or a battery charger will work, I've tested quite a number of starters this way.

Negative side anywhere on the housing, I usually use the mounting tabs, then the positive onto the stud/nut where the B+ battery cable goes. You'll then need to use a screwdriver or something to arc the positive side to the signal wire to kick the gear out and have it spin.

For reference:


The gear doesn't kick out that far, as you can see it physically can't extend any further than the housing around the end of the starter.




B+ is on the left, solenoid to motor is on the right, and signal wire is on the bottom.

Hmm...now that I take pics of it, I notice that it's an aftermarket starter. Never noticed that before.

Also alset2 makes a good point, under load it may fail, though seem to be fine when it's out of the car.

julioenr

Try This just to make sure is not wiring....
Hopefully when you reinstalled the starter the base was clean enough, might just be that....theres no ground at all if it has dirty contact...make sure it was clean by using a TP cleaner (that is some good stuff and evaporates fast, very handy).
There is no need to install another ground if factory didn't do it it is not necessary, helpful but not critical. just save your time and don't do it
Also use the TP cleaner to clean the cables and the harness. Also clean the bolts and everything pertaining to electric contact.
Make sure battery is not bad!!!! Try changing your battery terminals if they're ugly
Once all of that is clean, on the starter just unplug the starter signal wire and grab a wire and connect it directly to your battery. If that does the job, then try it by reinstalling it and start the car. If it doesn't work... it means theres a problem with the signal wire and not the starter or main cable (the thick one connecting from battery to the starter).

alset2

iTrader: (1)

[quote=
There is no need to install another ground if factory didn't do it it is not necessary, helpful but not critical. just save your time and don't do it
).[/quote]


Hmmmm,very interesting!
just wondering why you are so quick to dismiss so much real life,practical data???

B_Eaze

iTrader: (3)

... lol grounding helps especially if u have ANYTHIN aftermarket because the factory doesnt install after market parts, you do. this isn't a brand new car so grounding usually helps the electrical system anyways

JtzMax

iTrader: (5)

I have ONE, the original ground on my car ... that's it. I run ~1500w on my stereo (aftermarket btw) and no problems. So this talk about "aftermarket" and grounding is a bunch of crap. My guess is it is one of two things ....

Try and replace the solinoide (on the starter, it's the small piece that the electrical hooks up to), comes off with 2 - 10mm bolts and a 12mm for the studs (where the wires are hooked up). Don't even need to remove it from the car to do this job.

The other possibility is the wirring harnes on the pass side, where it goes into the firewall. There is a hard bend in the wires at that point and it could be that you have a broken wire that allows only minimal contact at times, thus giving you the problem. It was mentioned by another member (Pmohr) about there being a TSB on that ... the kit from Courtesy is like 12.50 or so .... worth checking anyway.

wassum

iTrader: (1)

hey guys,

so i pulled the starter out again, hooked it up to the battery and arced the signal with positive bolt on the starter. It sparked a little but didnt do anything.
so i thought maybe my battery is out of juice. Tried it on my VW still nothing, just a spark. Oh and im an idiot and cant figure out what settings i should use on my multimeter. (never used one before) just to be safe im taking the battery and the starter back to autozone, get them to test the battery and probably just buy a new starter.

wassum

iTrader: (1)

Problem Resovled:

So the ground didn't do a damn thing. After taking the battery in for a test, it was fine. had them check the starter again just for the hell of it. It started up pretty weak this time, but passed. made them check it again, and this time it completely failed. So I bought the new one, and slapped it back in the car. She started up like a champ. So what have it learned?

1. I learned how to use a multimeter
2. Always make them test your starter 3 times.
3. trying to start parts with jumper cables and a screw driver is cool.
4. never doubt the numerous posts you've read by your fellow orgers.
and just buy the damn starter, or try the regrease.
5. I can now change a starter in a few minutes.
6. I've only posted 25 times in 4 years lol

Only time will tell how long the rebuilt starter will last...

Thanks Guys, you make me want to keep buying maximas.