92 accord

Yet another problem

My starter was turning slowly in the mornings, and after driving for a little while, the starter sounded normal. I was in a hurry and assumed it was the 3 year old battery. Didn't have time to test it so I just swapped it out.

With the brand new battery, it still has this problem. Sometimes it won't crank at all, so I cleaned all of the connections and made sure they're tight. On 2 occasions the starter was silent when I turned the key while I was out, so I gave it 3 very light taps with a hammer, got back in the car, and it started right up. Could be a coincidence. So it's not just the first start of the day, telling me it is not a power problem. Full battery, no crank.

edit: the reason I ask, is because in my experience, when a starter died it just made a clicking noise, so this one is new to me.
If I pop start it, it starts no problem, as I would expect.

It really sounds like a starter to me, but I wanted to see if there are any more possibilities before I order one and keep throwing money at this car. I can check the voltages tomorrow if I have to, my gf took it to six flags with her mom today.

 

double post cus i can't edit my post for some reason...

The reason I'm asking is because I'm a little confused. From my personal experience when I had a starter die, it just made a clicking noise, easy diagnose. This is a first for me.

 

does sound like a bad starter.

 

the hammer trick that you did was a starter tap.

 

if you need to tap your starter then its your starter its getting stuck lmao!!!!!!

 

Starter finally comes in tomorrow, I ordered a real honda one. @ jdmcertified909, I'm glad you're lyao, but the reason I was unsure was because the car has had multiple starting issues recently. I do like to lmao from time to time however

At the time of my post, I was a little worried that the engine was having trouble turning (seiziing up?) because it's so old, but at this point I can only push start it, and it starts just fine. Now I know it's a starter issue, and hopefully the new starter comes in tomorrow.

Like I said, I've had starter issues before, and I just got the "click click" noise, so this is a first for me. I wrongly diagnosed a bad relay as a bad distributor, coil, and ignition last time I had a starting issue, so I second guess my assumptions these days... hence why I came here even though I assumed a bad starter.

 

What happens when you tap your starter and it works is that the starter contacts are worn out. They don't quite touch when they are worn and when you tap it they just ever so slightly touch and start the car again. This happened on my Toyota starter and I bought new contacts from Larry's starter contacts here...

http://startercontacts.com/


Now, just to be sure, I will say I've never had an issue with a Honda starter, however it should prolly be the same. You will just take out the contacts and replace them with the new ones. I did this with my Toyota denso starter and my starter works perfectly now. I had the same issues as u with the click clicks.

You can call him and he should be able to get you new ones, but I think there might be places that sell these contacts ..maybe home depot or something. You can take your starter apart and see if the contacts look worn and even try matching them up if you can find a place that sells them. It's actually not that hard, just a couple nuts that hold it together.

 

its better to buy a started any day then rebuild one. these starters have bearings and other things in them. if the contacts are worn so is the starter

 

That's also why I ordered a real one, rather than get one of advanced auto's $40 cheap a** rebuilt ones.

 

Reman starters are less of a crap shoot than reman alternators.

 

Yea that did the trick, it finally got delivered 2 hours before I have to be to work. Gotta be to work in an hour, atleast I have time to take a quick shower haha.

I put a starter in a celica that I had when I was like 19, I never heard a starter crank so fast like this one, it sounds very strong. Looks like I'll be rolling over to 280,000 miles this week after all, thanks for the advice ladies and/or gents.