SCREECHING SOUND! from starter

[bigben805]

Hi,

I am new here and this is my first post to the forum. I just bought a 1991 Ford Explorer 4WD, Auto (for $1000us). The seller said the car had been sitting for about a year and that he would "sometimes" start it just to keep the engine alive. So long story short I bought the thing and tried to drive it home. On the way home i stopped for some gas and when i tried to start the car the battery seemed very weak, the starter was struggling to turn over.

skipping ahead, i tried another battery and just got the clicking sound from the starter relay thing. But the starter would not click or turn over. Then after some messing and cleaning of the battery terminals i got the starter to try to turn over, but it just was clicking. Had a friend of mine tap it while I tried to start the car. Every once and a while after a few taps we would hear a screeching type sound coming from the starter. Then after the starter would just click. So is it safe to say that the starter just happened to go out on me right when I bought this car??? It started fine when I test drove it, and when I left the sellers house, but by the time I got to the gas station, the battery "seemed" to be drained and then the starter just "seemed" to go out. I'm planning on buying a used starter from the junk yard, but I found something on this site about a way to test if it's the relay or the starter and I'm going to try that too.

 

[FIND]

It is perfectly reasonable to assume your starter just went out and that the new load on the battery was enough to kill it off. The seller may have also charged the battery prior to you buying it, thinking that it had just gone dead from sitting a little while.

If your starter is screeching, and sometimes turns over when you hit it, then your starter is the problem, not the relay, especially if you have checked all the connections.

 

[ERUSH97XLT]

Hello, and welcome aboard!

I would question the battery, alternator, and starter.

If you successfully drove it home, the alternator should have charged the battery, assuming the battery is ok. I would have both the battery and alternator tested. My guess is the battery is bad, because a weak alternator wouldn't supply enough voltage to run the engine, especially at idle.

If you tap the starter, and then it spins, your starter needs rebuilding or replacement. That clicking sound is the starter solenoid engaging. Don't click it for too long, you will drain the battery very quickly, possibly blow a fuse, or both.

Let us know how it goes,

ERUSH

 

[Mudboy]

How many Volts do you have going to the starter? If 12 or over, then the starter is bad. If you do not have good voltage at teh starter, check and see how much you have going to the solenoid If good then check and see how much is coming out of teh solenoid. If you have good voltage to solenoid, and not coming out then it is bad. If you have good voltage going in and out but not at the starter then you have a bad connection or bad cable. If you do not have good voltage coming into the solenoid then it's either your battery, ground,cables, or terminals. You can get a cheap multimeter from the parts store and believe me it will become your freind.

 

[Jason94sport]

Yeah it goes just like that. Had it happen to me on a 94. Was fine all day. I drove it, started it several times. Then out of nowhere no start. Tapped the start with my maglight & it started. Replaced the starter the next day. Didn't have a problem after that.

 

[bigben805]

It is perfectly reasonable to assume your starter just went out and that the new load on the battery was enough to kill it off. The seller may have also charged the battery prior to you buying it, thinking that it had just gone dead from sitting a little while.

If your starter is screeching, and sometimes turns over when you hit it, then your starter is the problem, not the relay, especially if you have checked all the connections.

I'm going to check the power to and from the relay tomorrow, I think it's good though, I can here it clicking when I turn the key. I think this car was just sitting for too long and not that it's driving again, some parts just ain't up to it.

 

[bigben805]

Hello, and welcome aboard!

I would question the battery, alternator, and starter.

If you successfully drove it home, the alternator should have charged the battery, assuming the battery is ok. I would have both the battery and alternator tested. My guess is the battery is bad, because a weak alternator wouldn't supply enough voltage to run the engine, especially at idle.

If you tap the starter, and then it spins, your starter needs rebuilding or replacement. That clicking sound is the starter solenoid engaging. Don't click it for too long, you will drain the battery very quickly, possibly blow a fuse, or both.

Let us know how it goes,

ERUSH

I did not get to drive it home, after I left the sellers house I drove about a mile to a gas station and this is where the battery died on me. I put in an almost new battery and just go clicking sounds. The starter would not kick over. I know the battery I put in was good because we put it in another car and it started it no problem. Some of the battery cables looked corroded so we cut them back to get a better connection. it's come down to that the starter just won't kick over. My friend said that either the starter is out or the engine froze. I checked the oil in the engine before I drove it and it was clean as if it was just filled or had just been changed.

 

[bigben805]

How many Volts do you have going to the starter? If 12 or over, then the starter is bad. If you do not have good voltage at the starter, check and see how much you have going to the solenoid If good then check and see how much is coming out of the solenoid. If you have good voltage to solenoid, and not coming out then it is bad. If you have good voltage going in and out but not at the starter then you have a bad connection or bad cable. If you do not have good voltage coming into the solenoid then it's either your battery, ground,cables, or terminals. You can get a cheap multimeter from the parts store and believe me it will become your freind.

I have not checked the volts, will do that tomorrow when I get back to the truck to work on it.

 

[bigben805]

Yeah it goes just like that. Had it happen to me on a 94. Was fine all day. I drove it, started it several times. Then out of nowhere no start. Tapped the start with my maglight & it started. Replaced the starter the next day. Didn't have a problem after that.

I'm hoping that's it too , It would suck if it was something major like something electrical. My buddy is good with older cars so I think he's pretty good at figuring out what the problem is.

 

[mr cribb]

I had an issue with my terminals. I would get a click on occasion, or no start situation.

After the parts store said the had a replacement cable I was going to go with that... until I realized the "cable" the were selling was a 1 foot section from the terminal and I was supposed to splice it in.

After listening to the wiser older parts guys at the store I decided to just replace the terminals instead. My problem was solved after that.

On a separate note if you ever have to replace the power cable to the starter it is about 6.5 to 7 feet long. I haven't found a cable that long at the parts stores. AND it is a royal pain to weave in and out of it's factory routing.

 

[ERUSH97XLT]

[...]I bought the thing and drove it home. On the way home i stopped for some gas and when i tried to start the car the battery seemed very weak, the starter was struggling to turn over[...]

I did not get to drive it home, after I left the sellers house I drove about a mile to a gas station and this is where the battery died on me. I put in an almost new battery and just go clicking sounds. The starter would not kick over[...]Some of the battery cables looked corroded so we cut them back to get a better connection[...]

Sorry, guess I misunderstood you.

You most likely have a starter or connection problem. I suggest checking every connection to the starter for corrosion or intermittent shorts.

Apply a baking soda paste to a corroded connection and pour vinegar onto it to remove the corrosion. A wire brush may also be needed for stubborn corrosion. To prevent future corrosion, apply dielectric grease to any exposed, dissimilar metallic connection (e.g., lead to copper, copper to steel, aluminum to copper, etc.). This method will seal out the water causing the reaction. Be careful not to cut wires too short; these cables are cut to the exact length from the factory with little slack.

If your connections are ok, have the starter checked and rebuild/replace as needed.

 

[bigben805]

one question, do you guys know what years of starter will fit in a 1991 explorer?? will the 92,93,94 starters fit it?? I'm going to a pick your part junk yard and they may not have the exact year.

 

[bigben805]

Sorry, guess I misunderstood you.

You most likely have a starter or connection problem. I suggest checking every connection to the starter for corrosion or intermittent shorts.

We started from the battery and traced the wires to the starter solenoid and down to the starter. We found that the positive wire had allot of corrosion (at the battery) not only on the terminal connector but in the wire itself. The copper wire inside was corroded for some reason so we cut the wire from the terminal peeled it back and cleaned as good as we could, then we reconnected it to the terminal. That's when we got the starter to click again (it had stopped clicking for some reason). We can here the solenoid activate when I turn the key, and the starter does click, but only screeches sometimes when we tap it. I'm looking for a starter now, but I think I may have more work to do down the line.

 

[ERUSH97XLT]

one question, do you guys know what years of starter will fit in a 1991 explorer?? will the 92,93,94 starters fit it?? I'm going to a pick your part junk yard and they may not have the exact year.

1991-1996 4.0L OHV starters are the same; however, the starters for the automatic transmission and manual transmission are different for these years. I think some of the early 1997 manual transmission starters were the same as the 1991-1996 manual transmission starters, but I'm not sure.

 

[bigben805]

ok, I got a starter for $32.98 from a pick your part salvage yard; it looks in pretty good condition. I will put this on tomorrow and post up if this fixed my issue.

Ben

 

[bigben805]

Put the starter in today and the car started up! I'm glad it was not nothing worse. Thanks for all the advice and info.

 

[FIND]

Enjoy your new explorer!

 

[ERUSH97XLT]

Put the starter in today and the car started up! I'm glad it was not nothing worse. Thanks for all the advice and info.

Glad all is well.

Hope it stays fixed

ERUSH