i think my starter is bad. i have an 85 gsl-se... the battery seems to be fine, i have tested it and it is fully charged, but all i hear is a click noise when i start it.. My rx-7 has had no problems until now.. where is the starter located? thanks, im a noob

 

Check your battery connections, guarantee you it's that. make sure it's clean and tight.

 

Not only that, check your connections on the selenoid. I had this problem last night, little wiggle of the wires on the starter and she started right up.

Btw, follow the battery cable (pos) back to trany to find the starter.

 

It's either your battery connections, or your battery is dead.

 

I had a bad alarm drawing voltage off of my starter. Check the voltage from the starter posts >11V = bad starter, < 11V = electrical problem upstream (battery, ignition switch, wiring ). But most likely battery or battery cables.

 

Yup as the others said, if you can here it click the problem is the battery or the connections. It is very possible for your battery wires to be corroded through, this happened to me before...

 

Hey heres a good question, does it click and the lights dim on the dash? If they dim thats good way to figure out if one of the wires on the starter or selenoid are corroded. If the lights flicker and turn off when you hit the key then the battery is fucked.


Btw, have you gotten this thing fixed yet?

2pm bump

 

bad starter solenoid. same thing happened to me. easy fix. if you need it soon roll start it and pop the clutch but it is only a pemporary fix.
does your brake warning/idiot light come on?
mine did.

 

Mine does this too on occasion. The battery is new. One time I found the 2 nuts for the cable connection at the battery post loose.

 

i got a whole new starter with the solenoid for 50. lifetime warrenty from o'reilly
i heard a click and it seemed to be coming from around the headlights. check that.

 

First, check your battery connections and battery voltage. Next, check your connections on the starter solonoid. If that isn't it, then try hitting the starter with a deadblow or brass hammer while someone tries to start it. BE CAREFUL. Make sure the e-brake is on, and the car is out of gear. If none of that fixes it, the starter solonoid has gone bad, and the clicking you hear is the bendix of the starter kicking out. The starter just won't spin.

 

If you have a multimeter, I could list you a list of checks you can perform to find out exactly what is wrong if you are 100% sure it is the starter...

 

thanks for all the replys... the headlights are perfectly fine when I turn them on so I think it is the starter.. I had to bump start it to get home from college but now i need to fix the problem. i called kragen, they have a starter for 108... so i guess ill get that and see if that fixs the problem. thanks fellas

 

$108??? Canadian??? if it is U.S. find somewhere else.

 

i paid 100 for mine lifetime waranty from autozone, i did get a $25 core charge though.

 

i think my solonoid might be shot, it was making a clicking noise but now it makes sort of a humming noise. and no my car will not start.

Heres the story: my starter was making a clicking noise yesterday but today IT WAS NOT, so my dad said i bet you your battery calbes are ****. so i change the negative (without searching = bad) today since thats all he had. Only thing is that it did not have a cut out in it for the ground i guess that grounds alot of the electronics, i still used it too see what was up and every switch in the car when i hit it would make this humming noise from what appears to be a box (on drivers side) with like a trottle cable going to the motor so i said ok that ground needs to be in, so i changed it back to the old cable and this problem stop however; my starter was now not clicking it was almost making a humming noise its self and my fuel pump does not now make any noise when i turn the key.

The battery seems to have alot of juice in it but my dash lights dimmed a **** load when i would turn the key. Everything electronicly still works in the car, i did not blow anything from not using the ground

does this just seem like i need to change my cables or is the solonoid shot in the starter, at first i thought i needed a new starter but now after searching and finding this thread im not to sure of it so im gunna try and rechargemy battery and get ahold of some knew cables but something still tells me the starter is not gunna kick in

 

I know i am new to the rotary thing, but i know car's. So here is my 2 cents worth!

Every time i had a starter "click" but not crank, it was worn out brushes in the starter. I could conferm this by giving the starter motor a good ring (or two or three) with my tire iron! (not the solinoid ) This will jar the brushes loose so they can drop down a little and make contact with the com, and it allways worked at least 5 times before i had to replace the brushes!(works with alt's too) That click should have ben the solinoid doing its job just fine. Hope it's the brushes, they are cheap $10.00 or so. If the com de lamed, it's new starter time.
Take it apart and you will know for shure. Check the barings in it to, the hummm and diming lights makes me wonder about that, or the com de lamed. (it takes a butt load of amps to make a hummm in a starter)

Now your grounding question, from what i can see on my 79 this car uses that "cut out" on the negitive cable to ground every thing but the starter, sooo, if you dident hook that up i can see why you heared that huming sound from that thing with a cable going to the carb (hot start asist motor) when you turned stuff on. That cable was acting as a ground strap! I had one of my budies car's break a ground strap, and his throtle cable became a grounding strap! (Energy will find a way back to the battery any way it can) He replaced 2 of them, they where sticking after a day or to. We finally found the broken ground strap and realized the throtle cable was ark welding it's self togeather from the amp draw when starting the car! IT WAS HOT HOT HOT!!!

Now the fule pump, if it acted as a ground to, it might be toast! (energy going thru it backward's is a baaaad thing) sooo, if you get it to crank over and it wont start check the fuse for it, if thats ok look to the fule pump.
Hope this help's!!!

What do you guys think?

If i am wrong on somthing let me know please!!
And yes i can not spell!!

 

everything here makes sence but if.If i blew a fuse to the fuel pump wouldnt i hear a pop from a fuse some where

 

Depends, some do some don't. And if the power was going thru it backwards it might by pass the fuse some how. I have seen it hapen!
One thing on a rx-7 i know nothing about is the fuseable link's. ( i am still learning about things specific to rx-7's to! )
My book tells me fuse#10, a 20amp fuse located on the bottem left of the fuse panel (as you look at it from the drivers seat), will control, ignition/emission's/fule pump.
But there are fuseable link's also. ( they look like rope and are located on the driver's side strut tower ) They control the,ignition coil's/ starter /sub zero start assist motor/ hot start assist motor /head light switch,head light motors.

I hope some one with more expreience with this will jump in!!!

 

I think these starters have a pretty long lifespan myself. I would check all cables and connections, and test the battery as suggested already. Then I would make sure that the engine turns over freely (not siezed). If all of that checked out, and the lights dimmed when trying to crank, then I would pull the starter and take it in for testing.

If you need a replacement, I've had great luck with www.rockauto.com for all kinds of other parts. Good luck.

 

no the engine is not seized it was drivable last week, which is the reason i think i broke my starter. I started it in 1st and i think now i might have fucked it but not totally sure

 

Let us know, wish you had mentioned starting it in gear!!!! that changes every thing!!!! Makes me think you de lamed the com( high heat ) or seized the baring's ( same )

 

The starter has an electromagnetic switch, AKA the solenoid. If that is clicking in and the starter is not spinning, here is a possible solution:
The solenoid pushes a bar that makes contact across 2 terminals. These terminals (inside) could wear down. Cleaning and adjusting the terminals to regain proper contact can restore operation. Try that before you spend your money.

By the way, my starter is still acting up - no clicky. I did not take it off yet.

 

Take the starter out and test it before buying a new one. Three quick tests will tell you what the problem is. Starter... solenoid or battery. You have to remove it to install a new one anyway. It is a quick removal. Once out connect the battery to the solenoid... you should hear a click and the thrust bearing should engage... with battery cables but it across the starter directly and the thing should turn... If that works do the first test again and put a multimeter on the output terminals of the solenoid and you should see continuity once the solenoid engages. If all tests pass you don't have enough cranking power in the battery or you have a bad connection.

 

thanks ill try the tests, i think my cables are fine cause i changed one and it didn no diffrence, but you never know