Starter? Maybe

[Tomd]

Hello everyone, I have a problem and I was wondering your advice. I took my 7 out the other day came back and about half an hour later went to start it. Turned the key and.... nothing. The starter motor doesn't even turn. Oh and it seems like its sorta grounding the power when I go to start it. What do you think, loose wires or bad starter? Thanks


Tom

[Rogue_Wulff]

Start with checking the battery connections. The small wire on the positive cable powers everything but the starter. If that little wire doesn't make good connection, nothing works right. Even the starter won't work, since the power to engage the solenoid is also drawn from that small wire.
After checking the battery end, check the cables at the starter and engine.
That is the most common cause of starting issues.

[djmtsu]

Have someone tap on the starter while you turn the key.

If that works, your starter is bad. Easy.

[Twilightoptics]

I had a similar problem. Turned out the spade connector on the starter was dirty. I took it off and sanded it and the terminal on the starter clean. No more starting issues.

Make sure you get 12v with the key in START at that terminal on the starter. As stated above make sure your heavy gauge cables are good and not loose.


Does the radio etc come on?

[Caim]

Well the best thing to do is check all of the connections first. Being that that is normally the problem for some people. After you have done that another good thing to check is the starter kill relay in the driver side kick pannle. If someone set off the alarm or it just went bad it will not allow the car to start. That one took me a while to figure out after i rebuilt the motor hahahaha. And finally if nothing else. Go underneath the car and check to see if you get voltage at the starter when someone turns the key. If you do, then it is more then likely the starter itself. But do check the grounds.

EDIT: ignore the starter relay and all my bs.... i really thought that this was in the 3rd gen section.

[Tomd]

Well it turned out to just be loose wires and probably dirty connections. I took it all apart cleaned it up and tested the wires for juice. The starter was tested and worked fine. Assembled it and is now working great. Thanks!! Oh car is for sale in classifieds, as well.