its a 90 crx si, .....heres the deal, i drove down to Austin from Dallas (3-1/2 hr drive), car drove great, i already knew my starter was going bad but i just did'nt make any stops, while i got to my parents in Austin, i decided to get a starter from Autozone, i installed it and the first try to start it after finishing the install, it started right away, and i was very happy.

well.......later that day, i went to start it just to move it into the garage and I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!!, IT DID"NT START ???? and i tried several times and it just clicked?????
my two bolts on starter are tightened good, and my battery cables are fairly new and tight and clean, the 2 wire connections are tight on starter, i am not sure how new my battery is, but when i put my ignition on the lights on dash come on, and also my alarm still arms, etc.... ?

i had my negative cable from battery disconnected for a week about cause i was working on other things. my alternator is new, i got it June 07, my spark plugs are newish.

i wanted to drive back home to Dallas today, but now i can't and i'm stuck at parents, does anyone have any tips that i can check first thing tomorrow???? i would appreciate it very much.

any tips?

 

push start it to get yourself home.

also check your grounds again i'd say.

have someone hold the key turned and hit the end of the starter on the end of the smaller of the 2 cylinders with the handle of a hammer or something tough.

 

take it back to vatozone i have had that problem with one of there starters
have them check it if it is bad well you get a new one for
and thats one of the main reason why i no longer buy parts form them FTL

 

I would check battery charge, and a good ground where the starter mounted to the engine. Alot of times there can be all sorts of grit and grime between the starter and the sheetmetal causing a bad ground. Or, you can take it back to autozone and have them test it.

 

Just fyi - I went through two starters from Autozone, they both tested out good, but when in the car, they wouldn't even click. Took my car to Kragen auto (since they can check the starter while in the car) and the problem still pointed to a bad starter.

Got my money back from Autozone and bought a starter from a local import auto parts store. Car starts right up everytime now.

 

i bet its the battery... needs more charge

 

just to give an update, first i looked and made sure all the connections were tight and good on starter and battery, then i tried jumping it off my dads cherokee and still just clicked and did'nt get it jumped or started either????

i figured my battery was drained or just old and i just went to buy brand new battery, so went to autozone and bought a new duralast battery and got back, i put the new battery in and tried and could'nt believe it did'nt work and still just made a click sound and did'nt start???

btw, my battery cables are tight and fairly new and corrosion free, alternator is good and only 6 months old, spark plugs also failry new and plug wires good, .....
so at this point the only thing i can think of it pointing to is that maybe autozone just sold me a bad starter??? so what do you think??? anyone have any ideas? or do you think my guess is right?

tomorrow i think i am just going to un-install the starter and take it up to autozone to get it tested, cause they said the only way to get reliable test was to take it out of the car, if they do test it as good then i won't know what the hell to think, lol, hopefully its bad and they just give me another one and i put it in and everythings cool.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by synergy10 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just fyi - I went through two starters from Autozone, they both tested out good, but when in the car, they wouldn't even click. Took my car to Kragen auto (since they can check the starter while in the car) and the problem still pointed to a bad starter.

Got my money back from Autozone and bought a starter from a local import auto parts store. Car starts right up everytime now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure if you missed this a couple of posts up...

 

make sure the connectons on your starter are good, and try to wiggle your battery cables when you turn it over... if that doesnt work get a little hammer and tap the starter with the hammer while you try and turn it over... if the hammer trick works take it back

 

quit buying junk autozone parts, spend the extra money for a quality oem starter or find a oem used one somewhere

autozone = junk

 

yeah, i had a bad feeling about the autozone being bad, but i have never had that kind of bad luck, usually i get stuff from them and its fine, i don't see how they sell a bad part? don't they have some kind of inspection process to make sure what they are selling is good enough to work???

well, i am not sure where to buy a good OEM one around here, i am in Austin and its out in the hill country with not much around, i am from Dallas and i'm just stuck at my parents so i am not familiar with this area, but i can check around the yellow pages and i'll see.

if i take the autozone starter out and test it then what if autozone tests and says its good?? cause if they say its good but i know it does'nt work, then what do i do from there?? would they give my money back even if it tests good?? and anyone have tips on where i could get a better quality one or what type of place i should look for to buy it???? i saw an O'reilly's, an advance autoparts, and a carquest auto parts around here about 20 minutes outside of town, are they any better to buy from as far as starter quality goes??? thanks

 

yeah, i had a bad feeling about the autozone being bad, but i have never had that kind of bad luck, usually i get stuff from them and its fine, i don't see how they sell a bad part? don't they have some kind of inspection process to make sure what they are selling is good enough to work???

well, i am not sure where to buy a good OEM one around here, i am in Austin and its out in the hill country with not much around, i am from Dallas and i'm just stuck at my parents so i am not familiar with this area, but i can check around the yellow pages and i'll see.

if i take the autozone starter out and test it then what if autozone tests and says its good?? cause if they say its good but i know it does'nt work, then what do i do from there?? would they give my money back even if it tests good?? and anyone have tips on where i could get a better quality one or what type of place i should look for to buy it???? i saw an O'reilly's, an advance autoparts, and a carquest auto parts around here about 20 minutes outside of town, are they any better to buy from as far as starter quality goes??? thanks

 

i got the starter from autozone tested at autozone, they tested it as good two different times, but i just felt bad about that starter and plus i hear a lot of bad stuff about autozone, so i just decided to get my money back, then i went to O'Reilly's and got a rebuilt Mitsuba starter there, i have'nt put it in yet, i am about to step out and do that.

it said to check the comparisons of my original starter and the one i just bought to see if it matches up, and i noticed a couple things, ........first off the terminal that the positive battery cable attaches to on my original starter is located on the side of the starter cylinder, the one i just bought has that terminal on the front of the cylinder where the ignition spade connector is, also i noticed the mounting holes for the bolts to go through were a little bigger than the width of the mounting bolts thread, so when you hold the bolt through the hole it has a lot of slack to wiggle around, so its not as snug as it should be, but i would think that it would'nt matter as long as i tighten it against the mating surface really good and as long as the starter itself does'nt move around at all after its tightened.

so does it matter how much it matches up with my original or not?

i will give an update after i try putting it in and hopefully it starts right up, if not, then i will think what to do next, cause battery is new, its not ignition switch cause i don't have the symptoms and connections are tight, so if this starter does'nt work then its going to make me pretty confused.