Another problem with 97 Sidekick

[SnipesXxX]

On my moms 97 Sidekick she said when she first starts it of the morning/day if she doesn't let it run for at least 30 mins or so before shutting it off it won't start till it sets for a while. When I say start I mean it won't crank. Well the other day while I was there my sister went to move it and it wouldn't crank. I popped the hood to take a look and every time she would try and start it I would hear a light click come from the top of the motor somewhere on the front left side facing the front of the car. It was dark so I couldn't see much. After about 15 trys it clicked quick and then started to crank and start.

Any idea whats causing this? Could the battery be bad? My mom had the battery tested not to long ago and it test fine. Could it be possible the battery test fine but be bad?

[capt. kirk]

[quote=SnipesXxX]On my moms 97 Sidekick she said when she first starts it of the morning/day if she doesn't let it run for at least 30 mins or so before shutting it off it won't start till it sets for a while. When I say start I mean it won't crank. Well the other day while I was there my sister went to move it and it wouldn't crank. I popped the hood to take a look and every time she would try and start it I would hear a light click come from the top of the motor somewhere on the front left side facing the front of the car. It was dark so I couldn't see much. After about 15 trys it clicked quick and then started to crank and start.

>Any idea whats causing this?

Yes, it sounds like the starter brushes are worn down to the limit. Instead of the copper wire coming out of the END of the carbon brush, it comes out on the SIDE, and fits into a slot in the brush holder. When the brush wears, a tensioning spring pushes the brush into the holder, until the copper lead jams against the bottom end of the slot.

There's still lots of brush material left, but it cannot contact the motor commutator properly. When you hit the top of the starter, it jiggles whats left of the brush just enough to make contact again; but this will only work for a short time. Same thing when you let the starter cool down, the brush holders contract just enough for the brushes to work again, but only for a short time.

We were unable to buy replacement brushgear, so we filed the brush holder slots deeper to let the brushes slide further down to contact the commutator. This will almost double the service life of the starter.

>Could the battery be bad? My mom had the battery tested not to long ago and it test fine. Could it be possible the battery test fine but be bad?

Probably not. Odds are, it's the starter.