now i just finished putting in my clutch and i go to start the car it goes "click" and now cranking. my dad thinks its a solenoid. i am able to rebuild it right or should i just buy a new solenoid or a new starter?

 

You guys really need to learn how to communicate better.
Which is it? Is it just clicking? Or is it clicking then it starts to crank the motor over?
If the starter worked before you put the clutch in then there may be nothing wrong with it.
Recommend that you check the wiring going to the starter. Check the connections at the starter, make sure the positive cable is tight and the small wire that energizes the solenoid is tight.
Then make sure the ground cable is tight. Check the connections at the battery and make sure they are clean.
Last but not least do not rule out that the battery is discharged or just decided to die.

 

1.the starter just clicks no cranking
2. i am sure the wires are right because the clip is idiot rpove and the postive one wont reach to the other side of the soleniod and then the negitive.
3. battery is ok cuz we push started it and it started right up.

 

Push starting a car eliminates the useage of the battery.
If you have another battery out of another vehicle then just put it in there. If it starts up then the battery is either discharged or has a bad cell.
Clicking from a starter usually indicates low voltage to it.

 

the battery is fine we tried boosting it and nothing all the lights turn on. once on the volt meter said 12V and when it was just in theignition part of thekey turn it said 12V

 

Look at the volt meter when you turn the ignition to the start posistion. If it stays at 12 volts or does not drop below 10.2 volts then it has enough power to energize the starter. If it does not the battery is bad.
You can bypass the ignition start mode by turning the key to the on posistion and running a jumper lead from the positive cable at the starter to the small wire that is located at the top center of the solenoid, if it starts there is nothing wrong with the battery.
Make sure you have the transmisson in nuetral. lol.

 

sounds like bad connections, check everything

 

^Already asked him to do that.

 

One more vote for cleaning the connections. This solved my problem, which was similar to yours...

 

Sounds like the solenoid is sticking to me. Try tapping it with a hammer, thats the solenoid on the starter, not the actual starter.

 

Alittle correction there. A solenoid does not stick.
When you can tap on the starter and it starts it's because of bad brushes.

 

Makes sense now that I remember opening up the solenoid to get it moving freely and it not working properly still. lol

 

well on friday i am going to recheck the connections, tap the solenoid and then see what happens

 

rx7doctor why would the brushes be faulty? If you've got a bad solenoid and it's sticking, meaning it's not moving in whichever direction is does, your not gonna engage the pinion gear to the flywheel or close the contacts to turn the motor over. So smacking it with something would allow that linear motion to happen in the solenoid.

 

ok i jsut took this one wire off and now the motor slowly cranks. does anyone have a picture on where the wires go?

 

I just performed a useful experiment on each of my 3 7s here in Los Altos, 5PM, ambient temp =55 deg. I turned off all accessories, then turned the key to "on" and recorded the indicated voltage on the voltmeter, cranked the engine (no choke to prolong cranking a little) and recorded voltage, then released the key and recorded voltage with the engine running. The result on all 3 cars was the same, as follows:

-key to "on" with all accessories off = 11.9 volts
-key to "start" and cranking = 10.5 volts
-key released, engine running = 13.7 volts

All 3 starters were replaced summer 2005 ($15 JY unit into SE, $90 rebuilds into others).

Also, the 85GSL pinion grinds before engaging!

All this info tells me that there is too much voltage drop in all of our battery systems. I blame it on corroded terminals AND those !@@## aluminum battery cables. In my past experience, with several cars, 1.0 to 1.5 volts drop in the cables is enough to stall a starter (for Italian and US cars, anyway). Aluminum resistance increases rapidly as temp goes down (ask the poor guy with a set of Al booster cables!).

The fact that my 85GSL pinion grinds at what appears to be customary cranking voltage suggests that 10.5 volts (indicated) is on the hairy edge of not working.

I wouldn't try operating a 7 in cold climates like Canada without first replacing the Al cables with Copper, preferably arc welding cable (thousands of strands, very low resistance) with marine clamps. I used to do that with my cars when I lived in Minnesota years ago and it solved my cranking problems: ALL the voltage got to the starter even at 30 below!

In fact, I'm going to add Cu welding cable to my projects list for each of these cars, since I plan to transplant 2 to places with cold climates. All I have to do is locate the cable: I suppose the guys at Toolland in San Carlos or Industrial Hardware can steer me to it.

The other thing that can happen with starters (I had a rash of these problems with Fiats in the 70s) is that the starter pinion nose bearing would wear from the very asymmetrical load and would allow the commutator to misalign with the brushes and cause the starter to cease working. I got pretty good at sliding under, removing starter, driving out the nose bearing with a 3/8 extension as a drift, impregnating the oilite bearing with motor oil between my thumbs, re-inserting bearing rotated 90 degrees (thus getting 4 services out of one $2.50 bearing) then re-assembling, etc. I think the last one I did took me 20 minutes. In a pinch I'd do the same for the 7. Every time I've overhauled a starter the failure has been the worn nose bearing and/or the brushes, never the solenoid (tho people are prompt to blame the solenoid).

 

well igot a better battery and the 7 starts no problem. but this wire is puzzling me, i dont knwo where it goes. thw wire is a blue or light blue and yellow wire? any thought of what this wire is for?

 

Next time you might want to listen from those who know

It might be one of the wires that normally goes to the trans. Some have 2 switches on the trans, others have 1.

 

well it doesnt connect to the trans becuase its not long enough and it has a washer type connector

 

if you get pics of the solenoid wiring, send em my way, im having the same problem.

 

It's simple. The pos cable goes to the lug on the driver's/left hand side, the ign, wire clips on and the neg cable goes to the top starter bolt, on the front side. The center lug on the stater gets nothing.