Starter Issue?

[alpinescott]

OK....did a 24v swap.....first attempt to start and the motor tunered over nicely and began to fire on the third crank attempt. 4th crank attempt and all I got was a click from the selonoid. Battery is fully charged. Any ideas?

[jlevie]

Only a click from the starter means a bad starter, no primary power to the starter, or dead battery.

[alpinescott]

^^ all those things make sense.....just the timing of failure makes me think there may be another issue. Is that possible? Any one know which starter connections to JUMP?

[surebimmer]

Make sure you can turn the engine over by hand. Put a socket on the front crank and turn engine over.

[trackjunkie21]

Check the engine ground, had the same problem.

[alpinescott]

ground could be the issue I guess. I have the main ground from the engine to the chassis for sure as well as 1 ground that was in the wiring harness connected to the strut tower.....battery is grounded in the trunk. Am I missing one somewhere?

[trackjunkie21]

ground could be the issue I guess. I have the main ground from the engine to the chassis for sure as well as 1 ground that was in the wiring harness connected to the strut tower.....battery is grounded in the trunk. Am I missing one somewhere?

yes, engine mount to chassis, passenger side

[SwiftE30]

sometimes the starters can overheat a bit and then it will just give you a little click like you're describing. This happened to me and all i did was let it sit for a few minutes and then tapped it a few times with a rubber mallot. Worked fine after that.

[alpinescott]

^^^trackjunkie. the engine mount to the chassis is what I described as main ground engine to chassis.....I have that one for sure. The motor turns when the crank is turned with a socket at the crank pulley so I know the motor is not siezed. I'll try a few raps with a mallet on the starter and if that doesn't work I guess it's off with the intake for direct look at the starter. Thanks for all the ideas guys.

[alpinescott]

turns out the shaft that engages the flywheel was just jammed. Starter is working great. Now just need to diagnose the rough idol.

[alpinescott]

Rough idol was just an incomplete vacumm connection. She is purring now! Bleed the brakes and clutch and my s52, OBD1, ZF will be complete! except exhaust.... Not bad for a guy that could not even do a brake job a year ago.......this site was invaluble for info!