Starter or something worse?

4009 Views 22 Replies 12 Participants Last post by random84, Oct 28, 2021

g87castillo

Discussion Starter · Oct 20, 2021

Went to turn on my car, had parked 10 minutes prior, vehicle cranked over but had a super rough idle and rattling sounds coming from the engine bay. Now my car won't turn over, no check engine lights, nothing is illuminated on the dash. It just clicks and that's it. Imo hoping that it got stuck throwing the car out of whack. Has anyone gone through this? Could it just be the starter or something else/worse? Any help is greatly appreciated!

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RocketSled

· #2 · Oct 20, 2021

The Starter has a gear that's driven to engage the flywheel when the Starter turns. I think it's called a "Bendix" gear. Sometimes, they get gummed up and they don't retract when the Starter stops being powered. I had a 76 Datsun 260Z that had this problem. I was too poor to fix it. I kept a 1" diameter 2' long steel rod in the car. If the Starter got stuck, I could whack it with the end of the rod from above, through the open hood. You can't see the Starter from above in the V's engine compartment, but I'm pretty sure you can reach it from below.

Jack the car up, find the Starter, give it a couple of medium force whacks with a hammer, see if the car starts after you have done that...

Although nothing illuminated on the Dash sounds like a dead battery. You might check that first since you don't have to crawl under the car to do it.

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random84

· #3 · Oct 20, 2021

Non illuminated dash is suspicious- check battery voltage (should be in the high 11.x volts), and if that's good I'd check fuses in the engine bay fuse block as well.

The clicking is the solenoid so that's a plus (it still works) - so I'd expect the starter to still be operational, and unlikely to be jammed - but anything is possible!

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ctsvken

· #4 · Oct 20, 2021

You may want to see if the engine manually cranks by placing a socket and a breaker bar on the front balancer bolt to see if the engine spins…..as you stated that you heard a “rattle” noise along with a rough idle.

At least you could rule out engine problems before you tear out the starter.

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g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 20, 2021

In acc, voltage is about 12.2 / 12. Everything eluminates, no check engine light. I will start with checking the fuses. Aside from the clicking that points to the starter im also keeping in mind the car is almost at 118k miles so things may start to break at this point. Regardless, I will check everything I can. If anything else comes to mind, or any suggestions I will take them. Thank you for your responses I will keep you updated

g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 20, 2021

UPDATE
Starter is working but my car will not turn over. I fear it may be seized. I will have it towed to a friends shop to get it on a lift and getting a better look and 2nd opinion. Again, thanks all for the help and i will update later!

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Florida-Vee

· #7 · Oct 20, 2021

g87castillo said:
UPDATE
Starter is working but my car will not turn over. I fear it may be seized. I will have it towed to a friends shop to get it on a lift and getting a better look and 2nd opinion. Again, thanks all for the help and i will update later!

Did you try jumping it? A starter without load will work on a battery that may not have the amps to turn over the engine... Just a thought before you get too sunk in.. unless there is more to the story that you are keeping out.. " just sprayed a 200hp shot of NOS in a race and turned the eng 7500rpm.." haha

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g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 20, 2021

Florida-Vee said:
Did you try jumping it? A starter without load will work on a battery that may not have the amps to turn over the engine... Just a thought before you get too sunk in.. unless there is more to the story that you are keeping out.. " just sprayed a 200hp shot of NOS in a race and turned the eng 7500rpm.." haha

I did jump it. nothing. Im taking to a shop tomorrow and going from there. Ill hopefully have it on a lift and inspect further

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g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 22, 2021

Quick update for you guys to see what you think*****
Shop never got a chance to look at it so it's still at home, I threw a socket on the crankshaft pulley turned a little bit and then it was very hard to turn so I'm guessing it seized up. I think my worst nightmare has come true, the worst part is needing parts everything is very hard again and super expensive right now

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Sbchris

· #10 · Oct 23, 2021

Start with the basics to troubleshoot.

Pull the plugs and see if the motor is hydro locked on fuel from a bad injector.

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Blown376

· #11 · Oct 23, 2021

Good idea. Once all of the plugs are out, you should be able to rotate the assembly from the crank easily. Pull the sc belt off as well so that all you're spinning is the rotating assembly. Good luck!

g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 25, 2021

Blown376 said:
Good idea. Once all of the plugs are out, you should be able to rotate the assembly from the crank easily. Pull the sc belt off as well so that all you're spinning is the rotating assembly. Good luck!

Will do! Im finally getting towed to a friend and gtech i know to throw it on the lift. Will update in the coming weeks!

g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 27, 2021 (Edited by Moderator)

Update***
Well..... I guess that is that. Suggestions?

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5

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Blown376

· #14 · Oct 27, 2021

Holy shitballs, that's done! What does your piston top look like?

My condolences, sorry for your loss.

Karch

· #15 · Oct 27, 2021

I’m sure the whole thing is garbage now. Dropping a seat doesn’t bode well for the cylinder bores.

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g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #16 · Oct 27, 2021

Blown376 said:
Holy shitballs, that's done! What does your piston top look like?

My condolences, sorry for your loss.

Man, it hurts. Loved that machine. Gotta start looking for replacement but its definitely gonna hurt the wallet. Thankfully i have a second car. Ill take any suggestions

loweredd

· #17 · Oct 27, 2021

The crap thing that I found when I needed a new engine is that everybody wants to sell an engine and transmission together as a drop in engine swap for WAY too much, so just buying a used engine to stick in isn't really an option.

Kjwhit

· #18 · Oct 27, 2021

Drop that new 632 in there problem solved 😃

Reactions: 1

g87castillo

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 27, 2021

Im

loweredd said:
The crap thing that I found when I needed a new engine is that everybody wants to sell an engine and transmission together as a drop in engine swap for WAY too much, so just buying a used engine to stick in isn't really an option.

Yes, finding that out now. To top it off everything is at an all time high. Well, it will get figured out, hopefully. The search begins!

Kjwhit said:
Drop that new 632 in there problem solved 😃

😂😂

2012CTSV

· #20 · Oct 27, 2021

g87castillo said:
Im

Yes, finding that out now. To top it off everything is at an all time high. Well, it will get figured out, hopefully. The search begins!

😂😂

Scope out the forums on FB. There is a nice one there for V classifieds. Sorry for your loss. Good luck!

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