'93 mtx, no crank

[General Geoff]

battery is fairly new and very strong, also tried to jump it, still nothing. Checked for continuity between the starter solenoid and positive terminal on the battery and it checked out. Turning the key to start causes a relay next to the ABS controller to click, but otherwise no noises. Fuel pump primes as normal when key is turned to on position.


So my first thought is the starter itself or the solenoid is dead. The car has recently given me some trouble in cranking (cranking extremely slowly, just barely turning over), but then it would crank over nice & strong as if nothing was wrong. I had considered the possibility that my starter was going because of this behavior. I'm in North Carolina for the holiday and I'm leaving next Monday, so I'm hoping that the starter is all that's wrong so I can get the car going and get back to PA when the time comes.

Any other suggestions as to what to check? I already pulled the old starter and it's sitting in a box in the garage right now. Any ways to bench test it with a 12v power supply? how much wattage do I need to make it spin up? Is it normal for the insides of a starter to rattle when shaking it? Mine does.

 

[rubydist]

sounds like a dead starter - your symptoms are typical of a starter that is about to die, and is now totally gone.

you can take it to most auto parts stores and have them test it.

 

[shocar]

If you find out the starter is ok, check the ground wire that goes from the negative battery terminal to the strut tower. On my 94 mtx, I had a failure that was caused by the wire just becoming loose where it goes into a double crimped wire attachment. I found the problem by having some one try and start the car while wiggled and moved all the ground wires under the hood. Simple fix if that is what it is.

 

[vortex2450]

That's a dead starter, same thing happened to me last year. Luckily they are a 10 minute swap at the most. Be prepared to start using that lifetime warranty from autozone.


-josh

 

[Off Road SHO]

So, just to be sure. When you removed the starter, did you have to remove one or two heavy gauge cables in order to un-bolt the starter? The grounding cable for the start is a heavy gauge and usually attaches to the stud/bolt that holds the starter to the bell housing. The negative battery cable, at least the heavy gauge portion of it, should be attached to that stud bolt. A stud bolt is a bolt that has a stud sticking out of its head.

I am a firm believer in checking all positive AND negative paths before removing the starter.

Tom

 

[General Geoff]

Yes, all of the leads including the heavy ground wire were securely affixed and had continuity to battery. Anyone have any experience with Ultima starters? I should be able to order one up tomorrow for arrival thursday.

 

[General Geoff]

Put in the new starter after degreasing/cleaning all the connections, she started right up. Thanks for the help guys!