Troubleshoot engine starting issue

[Dimenx]

Hello everybody,

     After a frustrating weekend troubleshooting my car that didn't wanted to start, I got it repaired and I wanted to share with the community some troubleshoot steps to avoid unnecessary effort and money spend, there are a lot of post about engine starting problem, but here I summarize it and hope this will help someone

     BTW, my engine is a CA18NS (carbureted), I haven't found anyone that has this engine outside my country (Rep. of Panama in central america), but I guess the systems will be quite similar
   
     The information that I will write here will be quiet rough and need some polishing, it will be great if anyone that knows more about this topic post some more information and corrections too.

     The purpose of this post is just to give you an idea of what is going on, this doesn’t meant that the solutions described here is the right for you, double check your parts before buy a new one.

     Always check and clean your terminals before doing anything that requires more effort, time and money, specially if you have some oil leaks (happened to me, almost bought an solenoid  )

     English is not my native language, so I apologize if my English is confusing

Here I go...

     The most common components that cause the car to not start are the battery nor alternator, inhibitor relay, starter motor, starter solenoid, automatic transmission switch (that wont let you start if it's not in P or N, don’t know the exact name of it  )

Symptoms & possible cause:
       
1. Clicking noises
This noise come from the solenoid that is pulling and releasing the armature core that is in charge of pulling or pushing (don’t know exactly) the starter motor's gear to engage the other gear that is inside the engine.  This pulling and releasing is due to a low voltage reaching the solenoid, causing the release of it, because it doesn’t have the enough strength to hold it and therefore, the solenoid is not capable to establish the bridge that leads the current to the starter motor.
 
Possible solution: Recharge or test with a know good battery and clean the poles

Possible cause that leads to the discharge of a battery:
                                                                                    - Old battery
                                                                                    - Dirty poles
                                                                                    - Having your stereo on all nigh long in a party without starting the engine to recharge the battery
                                                                                    - Faulty alternator
Easy way to check the alternator:
After the engine is started, disconnect the poles from the battery, and the engine should keep running without hesitation.  If the engine stops, look for the terminals and see if there's a faulty contact, you better clean it up and retighten it to make sure; if the problem persists, then you may repair or replace the alternator



2. No even clicking noises, but the lights in the dash are on

If you turn the key to start the engine and…

2.2 Nothing happens, the lights doesn’t dim at all
2.2.1 If you have an automatic transmission, make sure if you are in P or N, if it is, move it from P to N and vice versa just to try it.
2.2.2 Check your inhibitor relay
2.2.3 Check for the ignition switch and/or harness inside the car (under steering wheel, dash, etc)

2.3 The lights do dim a little bit, just a little
2.3.1 Check and clean the terminals that connects to the solenoid and starter motor
2.3.2 Check if the current is reaching the terminals that connects the solenoid and starter motor
2.3.3 Take out the starter and solenoid and test them directly with the battery and a multimeter. Repair / replace if one or both of them doesn’t work, make sure that the battery is good.

2.4 The lights are in very low intensity, specially when I turn the key
2.4.1 Check battery and clean poles

3. The lights in the dash are off!!
3.1 Check if the battery is connected or not death
3.2 If you have an immobilizer or an alarm with one, that may be the bad boy, check if you deactivated it
3.3 Check for harness

4. I can hear a weak spin of the starter motor
4.1 Again, check battery and poles
4.2 My battery is new!!! But still spins slowly and I have to keep trying to get it started!
4.2.1 Check for terminal contacts
4.2.2 Take out the starter and repair it, the bushings may be worn out causing the core to scratch the wall of the housing and therefore spins slowly.


5. Nothing above!!! what do I do?!?…
5.1 Make a post of your problem 

I hope this post will help someone and not harm anyone 

[Virus]

1. Clicking noises
This noise come from the solenoid that is pulling and releasing the armature core that is in charge of pulling or pushing (don’t know exactly) the starter motor's gear to engage the other gear that is inside the engine.  This pulling and releasing is due to a low voltage reaching the solenoid, causing the release of it, because it doesn’t have the enough strength to hold it and therefore, the solenoid is not capable to establish the bridge that leads the current to the starter motor.
 

The Clicking noise is when the solenoid pulls in and engages the big contacts for the motor. When the motor is engages it requires a huge amount of current and if the contacts are dirty or the battery is dead it wont be able to withstand this and there will be a huge voltage drop. This causes the coil inside the solenoid to drop in power and it then releases the solenoid and the contacts for the motor are then open. It will then have enough power to pull in the solenoid again but the same thing will happen over and over again.

[Dimenx]

Nice thanks Virus

[hrmmmm]

2. No even clicking noises, but the lights in the dash are on

If you turn the key to start the engine and…

2.2 Nothing happens, the lights doesn’t dim at all
2.2.1 If you have an automatic transmission, make sure if you are in P or N, if it is, move it from P to N and vice versa just to try it.
2.2.2 Check your inhibitor relay
2.2.3 Check for the ignition switch and/or harness inside the car (under steering wheel, dash, etc)


I have this problem and it frustrates the s**t out of me, however I have ka24e motor with EFI. Still it could be any of these causes.

Also the thing that alows  you to only start in park or neutral in an automatic is called a inhibitor switch. I think thats what dad called it. 

[Jono]

The switch is a neutral switch.

I have a faulty key barrel that causes my car to occasionally not start. I just bypass it in the engine bay by running a wire straight from my battery to the starter solenoid wire in the engine's wiring loom.

[hrmmmm]

The switch is a neutral switch.

I have a faulty key barrel that causes my car to occasionally not start. I just bypass it in the engine bay by running a wire straight from my battery to the starter solenoid wire in the engine's wiring loom.

Do you find it only does it when it's hot or been running for a while, Mine does it when it gets hot or has been running for a while in stop start traffic. Also I have all but  ruled out the auto INHIBITOR switch.

[Jono]

Mine occasionally does it when the battery is a bit low from me having my stereo on without the engine running.

[Febrile]

Diggetty McDredge

Well I was out tonight and I turned off the car, made a phonecall and went to start it again, and it tried but failed, so I tried again, and it turned over even less, and third time it didn't turn over at all.  The solenoid seems to be making the clicking described in this thread.

I'm pretty darn sure the battery is fine as it's less than 6 months old, and I've had no signs of problems with the alternator.  Also, I tried jump starting it from a booster battery pack to no avail.  I was able to push start it and drive it home without any problems, so I'm pretty sure it's the starter.

So what should I be checking?  I read in another thread about a starter relay - is this the ignition relay, and is it going to be the cause?  I take it the terminals that I should clean and check are those on top of the starter solenoid?  Failing these yielding an answer, should I remove the starter and give it a look over?

[Febrile]

Well you're all too damn slow, so I took out the starter anyway 

The pinion was not moving freely at all.  I opened up the starter, and the pinion does not move smoothly in what I presume is the bearing that is mounted on it.  Is it supposed to spin easily there?  If this is the problem, can it be fixed by replacing (what I think is) the bearing on the pinion?

[Febrile]

What are we, living in a graveyard?  I kid, I kid. 

Anyway, I figured even if it is that it looks like a sealed unit and one that I would have little hope of unsealing with my limited tools, so I cleaned up the whole shebang, regreased it all, and put it back together and tested it, and it appears to go like the clappers, so I'll whack it back into the car tonight and see if it makes it go vroom.

[ashman01]

What are we, living in a graveyard?  I kid, I kid. 

Anyway, I figured even if it is that it looks like a sealed unit and one that I would have little hope of unsealing with my limited tools, so I cleaned up the whole shebang, regreased it all, and put it back together and tested it, and it appears to go like the clappers, so I'll whack it back into the car tonight and see if it makes it go vroom.

That post makes u sound like the sarcastic guy of family guy. Good to see uv got it working. update us on the progress.

[Febrile]

Well whatever I did, it worked.  Once I put it back in and gave it a burl, it started first time no worries.

So there's a thing to try: disassemble and clean your starter motor if it's playing up, and it might fix it, for an approximate cost of $0.

Huzzah!