Starter will not engage....

[wood_e]

Well great my starter just makes one click and refuses to start.

It started well for most of today. This has been an intermintent issue for the past month or so. I replaced the starter last year with one from autozone with a lifetime warranty.

I checked with my fingers the connections and they seemed ok... I tried shifting slowly from neutral to park slowly with the key in the on position... still nothing.

Worst case scenario is my engine siezed... very doubtful...

Anyone have any ideas???

 

[Ishodu]

Did you check your battery voltage? It could be that the starter is wore out again too. You could also clean the connections to make sure that they are in good shape.

 

[wood_e]

Did you check your battery voltage? It could be that the starter is wore out again too. You could also clean the connections to make sure that they are in good shape.

I had the battery voltage tested at auto zone, as well as my alternator and they were ok. I also tried jumping the car with no success....

 

[Ishodu]

Can you get the starter out? If so you can try it off a set of battery cables and see if it will at least turn, or take it some place that can test it.

 

[wood_e]

Can you get the starter out? If so you can try it off a set of battery cables and see if it will at least turn, or take it some place that can test it.

Thanks for the suggestions! I was able to pull my starter out today and I got a free replacement from auto zone... pretty sad that it lasted under a year.

 

[Axianator]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was able to pull my starter out today and I got a free replacement from auto zone... pretty sad that it lasted under a year.

FWIW, John, I feel your pain. I made the mistake of going with an AZ starter when my (factory original?) starter went out last year. As with you, it unexpectedly bit the big one at just under a year's time about a month ago.

What quality, huh?

 

[wood_e]

FWIW, John, I feel your pain. I made the mistake of going with an AZ starter when my (factory original?) starter went out last year. As with you, it unexpectedly bit the big one at just under a year's time about a month ago.

What quality, huh?

Adam,

Yeah, real good quality there... I talked to the guy at AZ and he said "well it's nice to get a new one when your old one dies for free" I said "But it surley says something about the quality of the rebuild if it leaves me stranded after only a year"

Nothing else was said.

Did you try a different palce for a starter then?

 

[Off Road SHO]

Adam,

Yeah, real good quality there... I talked to the guy at AZ and he said "well it's nice to get a new one when your old one dies for free" I said "But it surley says something about the quality of the rebuild if it leaves me stranded after only a year"

Nothing else was said.

Did you try a different palce for a starter then?

For what you pay for a garranteed for life starter That you have to keep replacing for "free", you could have had your starter rebuilt by a true rebuilder. I don't get it, is your time not worth anything? And when the AZ guy said, "it's nice to get a new one...", yes, if you were getting a new one and not another old one. Do you think that AZ rebuilder replaces every wearable item on an old starter? Of course not, they replace what's broken or ugly.

Tom

 

[Axianator]

Adam,

Yeah, real good quality there... I talked to the guy at AZ and he said "well it's nice to get a new one when your old one dies for free" I said "But it surley says something about the quality of the rebuild if it leaves me stranded after only a year"

Nothing else was said.

Did you try a different palce for a starter then?

No, and much like you, I'm wishing that I had shopped around now. The only reason I went with an AZ starter was because I had had good success with some of their other products in the past and couldn't find another "chain" store that could beat their price and LLT. Since my ATX is my daily driver, I was also in a pinch to get the thing replaced so I could get to work the next day (no "pop the clutch" starting options with us ATX'ers, unfortuantely).

In retrospect, though, I have to agree with Tom. If you're gonna go through the minor hassle to remove the starter and the major hassle of dealing with counter people, warranties, etc., you might as well just have someone do a complete rebuild on your original unit and have it last for several more years, rather than relying upon the partially-rebuild pieces of crap that the rest of the parts houses are peddling these days.

Anything for those guys to save a buck, I guess ...

 

[SHOtimer]

Well, I am going to pop my head in here also. I replaced by AZ Duralast starter yesterday for the 5th!...yes 5th! time in 18 months. My original went out around ~140k and I went with an AZ because it had a lifetime. I think we all are in that pool of regret. But, don't stop at the man behind the counter. I have spoken with the district manager in my area and if this one fails he = (meaning AZ) is going to pay for me to get a brand new Motorcraft one because this is just not a satisfactory unit that they are supplying. So, you don't have to get mean, just be assertive and you might be able to help yourself out a bit.

Doug

 

[93nighthawk]

(See sig for starters)

My motorcraft replacement one has not given me any problems, my O'Rielly's would fail in a day or so. Not good rebuilds at all. I would suggest Motorcraft or taking it to a respectable local rebuild shop when it comes to Alternators and Starters. It might cost little more than AZ, but in the long run it is worth it.