Starter problem

[rapdes]

I bought a 94 Sport about 6 weeks ago. It has a remanufactured Napa starter on it that's 4 months old and a brand new battery. Problem is about once a week I go to start it but when I turn the key all I get is a loud click from the relay on the fender wall. If I tap the started with a hammer a couple of times then it will start. Is it the starter that's bad? I've heard there are issues with the cables corroding and bad connectors. I can't believe the newly replaced starter is all ready bad. Could the relay on the starter be bad? Can it be replaced seperate from the starter? Also how hard is it to get the starter off if I have to replace it? I'm open to any suggestions....

thanks,
Ron

 

[Redrig]

Sounds like a bad connection to me. I would definatley check that first.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I would agree that the connection must be faulty. On the '92 I used to have, my mechanic had to run a ground cable to the starter because it was so bad.

 

[rapdes]

where is the main ground cable on the engine located?

 

[JoshC]

If you are hearing clicking from under the hood then i'd say you have a bad soleniod. I just did the same thing on the 92 i'm driving. The part was 8 bucks at Autozone here in town. If it were the starter, you would hear one click from under the truck.

 

[rapdes]

OK, now I'm a little bit confused. Does my Explorer have one or two solenoids? I hear a loud click from what I think is a solenoid mounted on my right fender, from there is a smaller wire that runs to my starter. Is there another solenoid mounted on my starter? Autozone asks me if I have a starter mounted solenoid or not. One is $8.00 the other one is $39.00
I need advice please. I keep getting stuck and I need to drive this vehicle. I'm getting new battery cables and will install them tomorrow. How can I tell for certain if its my starter or soleniod thats bad? And which solenoid do I replace??

 

[Brian1]

I am going to disagree with everything that has been said because of 1 thing you mentioned - you hit the starter and then it would start. I would say your starter is bad. I had this problem a few months ago. I would turn the ignition and hear a single click from under the hood and that was it. I would hit the starter and then try again and it would start right up. This only happened once in a while. Other times it would start no problem. I took the starter off and took it to Auto Zone for them to test it for free. It turned out that the starter was bad/weak. I got a new one from them with a lifetime warranty. Good luck.

 

[ld50]

OK, now I'm a little bit confused. Does my Explorer have one or two solenoids? I hear a loud click from what I think is a solenoid mounted on my right fender,

That`s the relay. which sends power to the starter. The only reason you hear it click when the starter doesn`t work is because otherwise the sound of the starter would cover it and all you would hear is the starter.

I have to make a bad starter call in your case, sounds like a problem I had a while back. I had my starter tested and they said it was okay, but if it`s an intermittent thing, a bench test doesn`t always work out.

 

[JoshC]

Part stores have them both listed as soleniods.

 

[ld50]

? I always called it the relay, it`s by the battery, and is basically a switchable solenoid, but the manual calls it the starter relay. But I say potato..

 

[Opera House]

There are two things called solenoids. The one on the fender is basically a relay that switches about 15A to operate the solenoid on the starter. The solenoid on the starter mechanically moves the gear out. When the gear is extended, it closes an electrical contact that powers the starter motor. So the starter could clunk and not turn if this switch contact was bad. Because it is replaceable, there are electrical connection from it to the starter motor that could be bad. The push on connector can also be bad. I recently opened a high mileage starter and the brushes were immaculate. Maybe there are no bad starters, just bad connections.

 

[ld50]

yeah ya got a point there, That could cause a click too.

 

[rapdes]

Many thanks to all the great advice and info I've received so far from all of you! As an update today I replaced the entire positive battery cable (what a pain in the butt). I thought I would try this first because the starter and solenoid were fairly new (4/03) but the cable was original and look pretty bad. A matter of fact when I took it off the connector that plug into the solenoid on the starter was pretty badly corroded.
So far everything has worked pretty good. I'll follow up in a week and let everybody know if that was the problem.

 

[redexplr]

How cold is it there? I'm in alaska and I had the same sound and synthoms, but for me what I did was took a hair dryer and blew it over the starter relay for a few minutes and that was how I got mine to start. I think either your relay needs to be replaced or you just have a bad connection somewhere, either to the solonoid or the starter.

 

[EBInterceptor]

Well it sounds like I was a little late, but I had that problem too...turned out to be the starter. I was told that you can bypass the solenoid, and if it starts then it is a problem with the solenoid (on the fender). Otherwise if it still will not start, then it is problem with the starter. Of course I'm sure cables and everything play a part as well.

 

[rapdes]

It definately wasn't the relay on the fender. I could always here it click when I turned the key. Plus I also tried to jumper across it in case it was bad. Again, I'm pretty sure that it was the positive battery cable, mainly the wire that runs from the relay to the starter solenoid. The connector on the solenoid end was badly corroded.

 

[redexplr]

I also did the jumper thing and it still didn't start when i was having the problem, and it was clicking, but it still ended up being the starter relay for me. their cheap, so if you still have problems after fixing other stuff, go ahead and replace it, and in the process you will be re-establishing and cleaning good connections anyway so should solve it by then.

 

[Opera House]

Just an interesting point. I think GM had some problems with the solenoid mounted on the starter. Moisture would get in the solenoid plunger and freeze in cold weather. People found if they turned the key to start a number of times, the solenoid would heat up and the ice would melt. I've had a Ford starter apart and there is next tp no protection against water getting in the solenoid.

 

[i8u]

If you tap your starter and it then works replace your starter as long as all your conections are good. I can give you a more in depth explanation as to why tapping on it causes it to work if you wish. Your are turning the armature to a good spot by tapping it.


If you turn the key to the crank position and you hear a clicking. You have a problem with either your battery or connections. Check your batery voltage with the key off engine off. It should be 12.6v since most cars batteries are actually 6 2.1v cells linked in series. I would then to a voltage drop test on the positive battery cable. It should drop all voltage when the ket it turned to crank. If it doesn't the problem is excesseve resistance in your cable.

Since you already replaced your cable see if you can find a spec for the resistance of the P battery cable. Use and ohmmeter and check it.