For about 8 months now when I turn the key I just get a solenoid click. It will take 3-5 tries and then it will turn over and fire right up. It first seemed to only do it when the car was hot so I thought it was a heat soaked starter problem. I replaced the starter and put a heat shield on it, but that did not help. It seems to be getting worse. It no longer matters if it's hot or cold. What steps would you take to troubleshoot this problem?

I have the same problem also....

Chris

I would take a volt meter and see what voltage reading you get on the ( S ) terminal on the starter solenoid when you are starting the car.

I would take a volt meter and see what voltage reading you get on the ( S ) terminal on the starter solenoid when you are starting the car.
X2, battery cables are the most likely problem. Could be the battery as well, I actually had a battery that had top and side post, my starter was connected to the side post but whenever I read the battery voltage I put my meter on the top post and it read good, there was an internal fault in the battery and the side post was putting out about 3 volts less than the top post.

7265

I had a chance to do a little troubleshooting. Referencing the image above, here is what I've got:

The heavy cable direct from the battery to the solenoid has 13v. at the post.

Terminal "I" has 13v. with the ignition switch in the "on" position.

Terminal "S" has 13v. with the ignition switch in the "start" position.

On the start attempts that the engine turns over, the "p" terminal (connects solenoid to starter motor) has 13v.

On the start attempts when the solenoid just clicks and the motor does not turn over, the "p" terminal has 0v.

All connections are clean and tight.

I'm concluding that even though it's a new starter/solenoid, that the solenoid is bad.

Agree/disagree?

The solenoid does 3 things. It pulls the gear into the flywheel , completes the circuit to the starter motor and it completes the circuit from the center terminal to the P terminal. If you are getting a 0 reading at the P terminal then the solenoid is the most likely candidate for replacement. Make sure you get a good solenoid, not all solenoids are created equal.

alan

Agree. bad solenoid.

My experience has been that most solenoids are junk. get a delco from the dealer.

If solenoid, battery, alternator charging, connections all check out ok it is the solder joints on the armiture gone 'dry'
This is a common issue with starter motors if have been run with high itial centifical advance over a long period...causes very high temps in the windings breaking down the solder joints..it is ok cold but when warm causes the above symtoms
Can be checked on a growler or heat up the armiture and use a multi meter across the joints.
If solenod contacts these can be turned over

Steps, if the armature were bad as you describe, wouldn't the P terminal still register voltage? Wouldn't bad solder joints on the armature merely affect the spinning of the starter motor?

alan

I changed the starter/solenoid today. While at it I went ahead and replaced the battery lead as well. It's a cheap starter, but still under warranty so no cost. They put the old one on their machine and said it was fine, but gave me a new one anyway. End result; problem has gone away for now. If it happens again I'll quit being cheap and go get a good starter.

Thanks for the replys.