DIY: Starter check (cold start issues)

[Justincredible]

After I have seen a few posts with people having cold start or no start issues in the past and the fact that I had a bad starter that needed to be changed I thought I should share this.

Ok so for those of you who haven't seen this yet. From time to time the starter or the starter solenoid will go bad. Most of the time you will see this in the cold weather. What can happen is You will attempt to start the car and nothing, the car will power up but not even attempt to start or turn over the starter. Some people have changed ignition switches,clutch switches,batteries and the list goes on. In some cases the starter is good. But how do you know with out testing it.

This is what I did to find out that my starter was bad

Go to the passenger site of the engine bay and find the connectors on the fire wall



Then after you located the connector. Find the pin on the inside



After you have all that located. Get a piece of wire the same Gage as the black wire on the connector. Make sure you have enough wire to reach from the connector to the positive batt terminal. ***note you can jump from the connector pin# 1 or the Black wire going into the connector housing***



NOTE: even with the key turned off you will be able to bump the starter. If the car has power

[Silver B6 S4]

Great post! I will try this in the morning when she doesn't want to start. Is it the same with the 6 speed?

Is this with the Key in the ignition in the "on" position?


Alex

[Justincredible]

Is this with the Key in the ignition in the "on" position? If not, the thread should be deleted.
Alex

This should be the same for every car manual or auto.

When My starter was bad. I would try to jump it and nothing. This helped me fix it right the first time and saved me alot of money. I thought others might be helped by this..

[V8weight]

What Justin is showing here doesn't require the key in the ignition, but without power to your ignition or fuel pump it poses no theft risk. Its simply applying 12 volts directly to your starter solenoid to isolate the no start issue.

[V8weight]

Oops, he replied before I was done typing. I guess my 3 words per minute just isn't cutting it anymore.

[Justincredible]

Oops, he replied before I was done typing. I guess my 3 words per minute just isn't cutting it anymore.

LOL

No you are much faster then I was. I probably was trying to reply for so long that by the time you got started I had already been working on it for 15min.


Thanks for helping point out what I was trying to do. I took all that time and you said it better than me

[Silver B6 S4]

Sorry for the last post. I just don't want to walf out and see my car missing...


Well on the other hand I tried it, and it did nothing... So what does that mean?

I will also edit my OP...

[Justincredible]

Sorry for the last post. I just don't want to walf out and see my car missing...


Well on the other hand I tried it, and it did nothing... So what does that mean?

I will also edit my OP...

Most likely....you did something wrong. did you key it up?

You are basically applying voltage to the starter. The starter is always grounded so that is out of the picture.. Make sure you have the correct harness. don't use any of the color ones. Those are for the 02's

[Jer]

Wondering if anyone here has attempted to clean up plunger/contacts on the starters of these cars? Does everyone here just replace them and if so, what is the cost? I know the Supras were notorious for this same issue and it would manafest itself in the form of a click sound but no start. It might do this a time or two but eventually it would crank over. Over time this clicking would be longer and longer until eventually it just wouldn't start at all. Starter was done. Or was it? A re man'd starter for that car is over $200 so the popular thing to do was take it apart and use a wire brush to clean up the contacts inside the starter. In most cases you could put the starter back in and you were good to go for another 100k miles or so. Not knowing anything about these starters I was wondering if anyone has attempted this on these starters and what the cost of a replacement starter is. If it's inexpensive it might just not be worth it.

[Justincredible]

Well it turns out its the solenoid on the starter goes bad. Im sure there might be someone with a bad contact that may have had an issue in the past, but for some reason the solenoid just seems to go bad. The only way to fix that is to replace it

[SuperAvant]

I tried your test this morning and also got nothing. I used the correct harness (except the wire is red with a black line). What you mean by "key it up"?

PS - this was on a brand new starter BTW.

[dr.evil]

Heres a question for you experts on this problem. When the car is cold, it will not start. Just like posted, all lights work and car has full power, just no crank. Tried to crank for about 3-4 mins with no luck. Got out, popped the hood and tried the trick on this post, got no response from starter. Plugged connector back in, fired right up. Next time it was cold and did not start, I just unplugged and plugged back in this same connector, and it fired right up. Done this about 5 times now when its cold and doesn't start. I don't get it. I'm 99% sure the starter is going out. besides the cold start issue, it just does not sound healthy.

Is it cheaper to get the starter rebuilt or order a new one? Cheapest I could find was $250. Hoping to fix it for less if possible. I have other cars to drive if the S has to be down for a while if I can get the bad starter rebuilt.

[Justincredible]

Its not the starter its the solenoid.

I found unplugging and plunging that in works if your stranded

[dr.evil]

Its not the starter its the solenoid.

Which you can't buy separately from the starter, correct?

[Justincredible]

Which you can't buy separately from the starter, correct?

LOL that is where they get you. You can pull out your starter and rebuild your solenoid your self, it just takes some time and patience.

[r2thet]

tried, your test and found my problem. Solid post, thanks for the info.

[dr.evil]

LOL that is where they get you. You can pull out your starter and rebuild your solenoid your self, it just takes some time and patience.

Where do you get the rebuild parts?

[fujii13]

I tried this today, and my started definitely clicks when I touch the wire to the positive battery terminal. What else could be causing this?

Also, after I push started it and ran it for about 20 minutes, it started no problem. Tried three consecutive times after parking. About two hours later, won't start again. It was right around 30 today.

[jfunkey]

I tried this today, and my started definitely clicks when I touch the wire to the positive battery terminal. What else could be causing this?

Also, after I push started it and ran it for about 20 minutes, it started no problem. Tried three consecutive times after parking. About two hours later, won't start again. It was right around 30 today.

That clicking and no starter engagement means its the starter. When you put the wire on the positive your starter should kick over.

If you can push start the car then that is one more example of the bad starter. your car will run when warm because something in the starter dosent work when it gets cold

[fujii13]

That clicking and no starter engagement means its the starter. When you put the wire on the positive your starter should kick over.

If you can push start the car then that is one more example of the bad starter. your car will run when warm because something in the starter dosent work when it gets cold

Thanks I figured as much and my guy at the dealer confirmed this yesterday. Did you replace this starter yourself or had it installed by a garage?

[dr.evil]

Who sells starters for a reasonable price? I ordered through rockauto ($250) and just got a call saying that the part is unavailable! genuinevwaudiparts wants around 500. Not available at Autozone. Haven't tried napa yet. So where do you get them for under 500, if that's even possible?

[fujii13]

Parts Geek has it pretty cheap:
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...l/starter.html

I needed mine next day local, so I'm picking mine up from Bap/Geon tomorrow for $234.

[dr.evil]

Ended up finding it through a seller on ebay that didn't have it posted. Bosch reman for 120. Not too bad.

car-stuff.com has an off brand for $111. If you use that site, use code CS03 as the coupon code for 10 bux off $100 or more.

[0396]

After I have seen a few posts with people having cold start or no start issues in the past and the fact that I had a bad starter that needed to be changed I thought I should share this.

Ok so for those of you who haven't seen this yet. From time to time the starter or the starter solenoid will go bad. Most of the time you will see this in the cold weather. What can happen is You will attempt to start the car and nothing, the car will power up but not even attempt to start or turn over the starter. Some people have changed ignition switches,clutch switches,batteries and the list goes on. In some cases the starter is good. But how do you know with out testing it.

This is what I did to find out that my starter was bad

Go to the passenger site of the engine bay and find the connectors on the fire wall



Then after you located the connector. Find the pin on the inside



After you have all that located. Get a piece of wire the same Gage as the black wire on the connector. Make sure you have enough wire to reach from the connector to the positive batt terminal. ***note you can jump from the connector pin# 1 or the Black wire going into the connector housing***



NOTE: even with the key turned off you will be able to bump the starter. If the car has power

ok.. great info..But I'm not getting it..think it's me. The black wire is ground.. - right? And the blue wire is the hot wire one would connect to the battery - right?? Sorry for the silly question.

[mad70sx]

I work for a German boiler and heating equipment manufacturer and typically blue wires are neutral wires. Not sure if this would be the same for German cars. Best way to be sure would be to break out your multi-meter and check to see which wire has voltage on it. A neutral or ground wire should not have voltage present.

Hopefully Justin can chime in to clarify.

[Justincredible]

ok.. great info..But I'm not getting it..think it me. The black wire is ground.. - right? And the blue wire is the hot wire one would connect to the battery - right?? Sorry for the silly question.

Its the #1 pin you want to tap into. Some cars have different colors for some reason so just go off the #1 connector.

The blue wire I was using was just the color of the wire I had laying around and not a reference.

For some people you may need to ground out your clutch pedal switch. But Ive never had to on any of the cars Ive done.

ALSO MAKE SURE THE CAR IS OUT OF GEAR FOR YOU MANUAL GUYS. As the car will move