alternator or starter problems on 96 dodge intrepid

[JamesD]

Need some help here guys. I am pretty sure my issue is the starter. but want some extra opinions first.

went out to start my car this morning and NOTHING. no turn over, no clicking. NOTHING.

NOTE: this also happened last week. was a bear to even jump start. so last week thinking it was the battery, i switched over a more powerful battery from my Nissan pathfinder. started up and was all good.

till today.

a little more info i have gathered today. the lights the radio and wind shield wipers all work fine. so the battery is still good.



i'm going to jump start again this afternoon and disconnect the battery to insure the altenator is good. pending that it is...is the issue my starter?

thanks

[Airjer_]

Disconnecting the battery while the car is running is not a good idea. Use a volt meter than you can physically see what the alternator is putting out for voltage.

As long as there is battery voltage to the large wire at the starter and there is power at the small wire at the starter with the key in the crank position and your positive the terminals/battery connections are clean and tight than you probably have a bad starter.

[JamesD]

will it read the voltage if i can't even start the car?

[Airjer_]

It will read battery voltage. It should be a tad over 12 volts for a fully charged battery. To see if the alternator is charging the vehicle will have to be running. You should see around 14 volts if it is working.

[wafrederick]

If it is the starter,you do not have to replace it and Dorman sells the contact repair kit for these starters.All goes wrong in the starters are the contacts wear out.You take the starter out and fix it on the bench which does not take very long

[JamesD]

well, according to the voltmeter with the engine off, the battery is fully charged. I tried to jump start the car to move it to an area i could safely jack it up but it wouldn't even jump.
same thing, turn the key and nothing. one click but no whining or anything.

i tried to crawl under the car to look around but it sets too low.

i did see this wire disconnected though. not sure where it goes though since i can't get under to investigate.

[Airjer_]

One click is a sign of the starter. Like somebody mentioned you can clean or replace the contacts and you should be good to go. Repeatedly turning the key to the crank position quickly can also sometimes get the starter to crank over again. Might help you get it to a more ideal location.

[JamesD]

ok, so i jacked the car up crawled underneath and couldn't locate the starter.

pulled the drivers side front wheel off and there it was.

was a pain getting the bolts out as there wasn't a lot of space to work with. got them out, got the starter/selonoid pulled out. took in to Oreilly auto parts for testing.

Test results: PASSED.

DANG IT. Now what.

took the starter home, re installed it. (in about 35min i might add - pretty impressed with myself on that LOL).

anyway, got it all put back together, tightened everything as tight as i could.

AND THE MOTHER STARTED. LOL.

the pos. connection to the starter did not seem overly loose, but it didn't take a lot of effort to get it off to begin with. guess it doesn't take much at all to affect the starter.

all in all i'm glad that's all it was. plus i got to get a refresher in removing and installing the starter. i love being able to work on my own cars anyway so i didn't mind too much going through all that.

thanks for all your help.