[Mgs] Just a "click" when starting

Aaron Whiteman awhitema at panix.com
Mon Aug 13 17:02:48 MDT 2012


Sent from my iPad

On Aug 13, 2012, at 3:11 PM, "Douglas McKinnie" <d.mckinnie at usa.net> wrote:

> Sometimes when I get into the car and turn the key to the "start" position,
> there is just rather a substantial "click" sound and nothing more. It
always
> starts normally if I turn the key back to "run" and then try again.
>
> I'm just wondering if this is something I should be concerned about.

Oh the timing!

Over the past few weeks, I had noticed that my starter was slowing.  One day,
it didn't do anything but 'click'.

In my case, it was the starter itself that was close to dead.  Without a load,
it would turn (slowly), but on the car, it did nothing but draw amps.

As Max wrote, make sure your connections are and grounds are good and clean.
If the problems go away, you're golden for a while.  Worst case, you need to
be concerned about a dying starter, but if yours is anything like mine, it'll
let you know bad things are coming as long as you are listening.

With an assistant, put the car on a jackstand, chock the rear wheels, put the
brake on, put the car in neutral and check the voltage
 * at the output of the starter relay.  Should be about 12V when the assistant
turns the key to start.
 * at the solenoid control circuit; since this is the other end of the output
of the relay, it should also be about 12V.
 * at the second large pole of the starter, which provides rich chunky amps to
turn the starter motor.

You are playing with high-amp unfused circuits, so be careful.

In my case, the starter relay was loud enough to mask the starter solenoid
circuit, so I shunted the battery directly to the control circuit, discovered
the solenoid was working "click!", but the starter wouldn't turn.


Fortunately, they are (in the words of our local auto electrics specialist)
"highly rebuildable".


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