starter issues...need help guys!

jfw834 · jfw834's Garage

stranded tonight after dinner and i could use some pelican love...

turn the key and all i get is fuel pump sound (hum) from the front.....seems like it may be solonoid or a starter motor that is stuck......battery is good, lights/radio/fuel pump working fine...

i have heard you should try giving the starter motor a good wack and that can "un-stuck" it sometimes. this could save me a tow and a PITA as well, but how exactly do you hit it, how hard and where? (forgive my ignorance, but which side of the tranny is it on...)

also if i try a push start, should i be concerned about my clutch (at the end of it's life)

thanks in advance guys...

mschuep · 11-02-2005, 04:57 AM

I've had a bad solenoid on my toyota for about a year and a half. It doesn't want to work every few months. All it takes is a tap with a reguar hammer to get mine going again, usually on the first try. I wouldnt really whack it unless you have to. As my clutch also needs work, I would be reluctant to try a push start since it obviously puts a decent amount of strain on the clutch, but I'd do it if I had to. Not sure where the bastard(starter) is located on my p-car.

-Matt

bkreigsr · 11-02-2005, 05:13 AM

passenger side, almost right over the half-shaft

rick-l · 11-02-2005, 06:25 AM

It wil not hurt your clutch at all. Third gear is a good torque speed trade off. Get it rolling, bump the clutch to turn it over. Push in the clutch when you feel it start.

rick-l · 11-02-2005, 06:29 AM

hey
is there a story that goes with that avatar (?? if that is what the little picture is called)

nut11 · 11-02-2005, 06:40 AM

Check your ground strap and clean connections to starter plus check fuse box connections. I bet that is your problem.

Bill in OKC · 11-02-2005, 11:14 AM

That's funny - I just had nearly the same thing happen yesterday. Turn the switch - no spring loaded action that I normally felt when engaging the starter. Still had all the instrument lights. It was my ignition switch. The switch connector pulled off behind the dash and connected to a new switch and it will start using a screwdriver.

jfw834 · jfw834's Garage

ok guys, thanks for the tips....still wouldn't start this morning and i ended up bump starting it and driving it over to TRE to investigate. once i got there i turned off the engine only to have it fire up perfectly a couple times right after....so hopefully that means it's not a bad starter but maybe a ground strap or disconnected wire? they will check the battery system as well to make sure propper charging.

as for the avatar, i found her in a thread a while back....we have been together for a few months now i think....it's going well.

Fun with avatars...

madmmac · madmmac's Garage

So jfw what happened at TRE? My car is exhibiting the same thing with no feeling of the spring action of the ignition switch and no engine turn over. I think I am in the ignition switch line right after Bill.

Bill in OKC · 12-21-2005, 07:55 AM

My case actually turned out to be the mechanical key-switch mechanism. I was able to get the electrical part off (without taking the whole drilling/etc route

) and the old '84 switch worked as well as the new one. I was able to get the key working with a little graphite lube and working the key - I am hopeful it lasts a while. The key has a built-in mechanical lockout that prevents you from engaging the starter a second time until the key has been returned to the off position fully and then turning it again, this is what was not working properly. The new electrical switch has this safety built in too, but the old electrical switch did not. At any rate it works and I'm keeping the old switch in the glovebox in case the key switch acts up again sometime - as long as I can still unlock the steering wheel with the key.

madmmac · madmmac's Garage

After searching multiple posts here is what I found and worked for me.

My key tumbler/ignition switch was not turning all the way into the engage starter position...turn the key and it was like hittting a wall prior to engaging the starter. This started out as happening every so often, but then, lucky for me it quit all together inside my garage.

I sprayed in some brake cleaner followed by using a magnetized mini flat screwdriver and massaged both the upper and lower tumblers inside the switch. I then went with WD-40 and repeated the process with the screwdriver and then my key.

Finally after a bunch of in and out (not the fun kind) I tried the key and bam, it worked. Tried it a few more times and everything seems to be good.

Hope this helps someone else along the way, those switches are big $$'s.

kqw · 12-22-2005, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jfw834
stranded tonight after dinner and i could use some pelican love...

turn the key and all i get is fuel pump sound (hum) from the front.....seems like it may be solonoid or a starter motor that is stuck......battery is good, lights/radio/fuel pump working fine...

i

Oh well...you're in good hands with TRE.

For folks that experience this issue (I did last week) This may assist in diagnosing the issue.....

Symptoms: The car sat overnight, the weather was in the low 20's and I would get a few seconds of hesitation before the starter would kick in.

Once the car started and I drove it, every time there after, the car would start on the first strike.

Again, car sits overnight, cold weather outside ( car in garage) and the same thing...hesitation.

The next morning (same conditions) but before I started the car, I gave the started and solenoid a good whack with a hammer.

Turned the key and Vrooom...

I'll be replacing the started with a high torque after Xmas....

p.s. My starter was last replaced 12 years ago...I think it's about time....