Is my starter bad?

[ELindy]

My 99 prizm is not starting all the time. Sometimes it will start right up and sometimes when you turn the key it will click 1 time and nothing.
If you turn the key multiple times i can usually get it to turn over and start eventually.

The battery was new last november and when I put the charger on it, it topped off right away.

I am assuming that the 1 click is the starter solenoid working. I think that the starter is bad but am looking to see what you think.

Will a new starter fix my problem?

[ELindy]

The answer is yes!
I removed the starter from my 99 Prizm...The bottom bolt and the electrical connections are easily accessed from under the car, the top bolt is accessible from the top left side of the car. I removed the battery and using a long and short extension together I was able to remove the top bolt.
I loosened the top bolt but I left it in the hole as is not a very accessible place to work and it would be a mother goose trying to put it back in. I have a mirror on a long flexible shaft that is a must have for the top bolt.

All in all its not to bad of a job.

[DangerDude]

If your starter clicks a few times before the engine starts cranking it probably your starter solenoid, not the complete starter "assembly"
(motor and solenoid) The starter rarely goes bad, It's 99% of the time just the solenoid. If your doing the job yourself you can save a lot of money by just changing the solenoid. It makes contact sending voltage to the starter motor. The contact points inside the solenoid get burned & toasted after too many years worth of starts. A new solenoid will cost a lot less, and they are easy to change, Usually two screws to hold it on to the starter body and one screw for the positive electrical post. Check it out if you are a D.I Y. guy! I have done this several times instead of buying a whole new starter, and lube the bendix drive of the starter (gear and shaft) while you have it off the engine. Just my 2 cents here .. it's a two beer job! You can do it! DangerDude

[east texas]

Originally Posted by ELindy

My 99 prizm is not starting all the time. Sometimes it will start right up and sometimes when you turn the key it will click 1 time and nothing.
If you turn the key multiple times i can usually get it to turn over and start eventually.

The battery was new last november and when I put the charger on it, it topped off right away.

I am assuming that the 1 click is the starter solenoid working. I think that the starter is bad but am looking to see what you think.

Will a new starter fix my problem?

if it does fix the problem it is only because the connections got cleaned in the processs of the change out. Clean the post on battery and on stater should correct problem.

[ELindy]

Originally Posted by east texas

if it does fix the problem it is only because the connections got cleaned in the processs of the change out. Clean the post on battery and on stater should correct problem.

Thanks for your reply,
The connections didnt look like they needed to be cleaned as they were all clean shiny metal to metal connections with no corrosion or rust. But I cleaned them anyway and reconnected with no luck.

I exchanged the old starter for a new rebuilt one and everything works great now.

opcorn:

[ErickTR]

Yes a new starter will solve the problem. The click you hear is not the starter but the solenoid, The solenoid is engaging the starters bendix but the starter is not turning it.

[DangerDude]

The starter solenoid does two things .. It is an electromagnet. When you turn the key to "start" you energize the magnet and it pulls the bendix to mesh the starter gear with the flywheel teeth, also there are electrical contacts inside the solenoid which close when the solenoid moves the bendix over and closes those contacts send current to the starter motor and start spinning it. It is those contacts in the solenid that need replacing (99% of the time anyway) Your hearing the bendix engage the flywheel but the contacts are crusty and burned so the starter isn't getting the current to spin, until you turn the key a few more times and keep banging those toasted contacts together. But .. it's "easier" to just buy the whole unit and install it. It lookes nice and new in the engine compartment too. You can't hardly see just a new solenoid .. But you just spent a hundred dollars you probably didn't really need to. Ahh well ..
As long as you get the car to start and the wife is happy again. Just don't tell her about the extra hundred dollars. (hah) DangerDude