Starter Motor

[g4zur]

Hi All

My starter motor has jammed (I Think) just clicks when I try to start, My fault I tried to start car while in gear with my front wheels chocked, parked on a steep drive.
I have ordered a new starter motor, Question: The Haynes manual says drop the exhaust, Oh no he says. Do I have to drop the exhaust or can I manage with exhaust in situ.
Many thanks as always.
Regards Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[nervousnewowner]

starter motor went on my dhc in the garage I was having it mot'd in, knew the owner so he let me push it in a corner where I fitted a replacement, bit of a pig to do but can be done without removing the exhaust.....[:D]

project dhc sold sadly, but project fhc taking over... Dave...

1977 TR7 FHC awaiting restoration
1998 Celica 1.8 ST back to my current car
1998 mk 2 mondeo 1.8 blew engine up..... long story...

the new project at birth, watch it evolve...I hope...

[FI Spyder]

While it might be the starter it might not. One fall it wouldn't start, only clicked. I too thought it was the starter as the battery was good so I ordered a gear reduction starter.Put it in over the winter, next spring on first start, same thing. Just clicked. Pulled the starter relay, the connectors looked like new with the dielectric grease on them. Sprayed some contact cleaner in the connection block that plugs into the relay. Worked fine for the next two years. Happened again in Kirkland on the way back from Portland. Got back home and sprayed it and it was fine for a year. One the way back from Portland last year it happened at a rest stop, got a push start to get me to a Wal-mart where I bought a bottle of contact cleaner. Sprayed the connection block and it's been fine since. I now will spray it every spring and carry the bottle in my tool bag.

(I left the gear reduction starter in).


- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[Hasbeen]

If your starter motor has jammed in the ring gear, put the car in low gear, & rock it backwards & forwards. Get a few of Mildred's glamorous assistants to help, or better still a bunch of muscle bound morons, as the rocking needs to be as violent as possible.

Is the clicking from the starter motor, or the glove box.

If the former, your problem is probably the solenoid is not making electrical contact, & not passing power to the motor. The click is the result of the light power from your starter switch energizing the solenoid, & closing the contacts to carry the heavy power to the starter.

There is a makeshift way of checking this. Again find a glamorous assistant to turn the key to start, while you hold your hand on the starter motor housing. If it starts to get warm, it is getting power, & is jammed, if not the solenoid is not doing it's job.

Be careful, not to burn the house down while doing this, the starter has only to become slightly warm to tell you the answer.

Hasbeen

[john 215]

Hi,

Is the click from inside the car in which case check the relay, back of the glove box or outside the car then poss starter motor, worth checking battery connections etc before diving in there

Cheers John


LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty Now with an overdrive conversion

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6, BUILT NOT BROUGHT !!!!

[saabfast]

I changed my starter motor without dropping the exhaust and that was with a tubular exhaust which is bulkier than a standard one (if that's what you have). Needs a couple of extensions on the socket to get in from the front and is easier from underneath but perfectly doable .

Check the connections on the starter first. I had similar problems when the small spade onto the solenoid got corrosion in the spade connection some time ago. The wire was green. Just pulled the spade off, bared it back to good copper and put a new spade on and it was fine. The other possibility is a dead segment on the starter commutator. Rocking the car in gear will sometimes get it moved on to a live section although probably does not work as well with 'modern' pre-engaged starters.

Alan
Saab 9000 Stg 1 (now passed to son for his family car)
Saab 9000 2.3 FPT Auto (now gone that others might live)
Saab 9000 2.3 LPT Auto (sold on, wish I had it back)
Saab 9-5 2.3 Vector Auto Estate
'81 TR7 DHC

[g4zur]

Update

Hi All
I today removed the starter motor after trying all suggestions, Yes I did get the motor out WITHOUT dropping the exhaust.
Couldn't free it off anyway, Still never mind learning as I go thanks to all helpers on this forum.
New Starter Motor should be delivered In the morning (Monday) Will not be able to fit till Wednesday due to work.
Will add to this thread after new motor fitted.
As always, Many thanks
Regards Gareth.

G.P.Albrighton

[DNK]

Did you check the starter after you pulled it see if it was indeed the culprit?

Don
Stick a Wedge In It
80 TR7 V8 Kick in the pants

[UKPhilTR7]

Funny enough I am in the process of seeing what the weight is of a new high torque starter motor, so I can order it and my mom can bring it over when she comes to visit. I do not want to take too much of her weight allowance up with car parts, or should I say she does not want the lol.

I had not thought about having to remove the exhaust when I come to change the starter motor over and I am glad to hear that you do not have too. The last thing I would want to do is do more that what is necessary. Come to think of it last time the starter needed some attention, it was a pain, but we were able to do it from underneath with the exhaust in place.

I think when I change it, I will look at new cables and all that to try and help my girl start easier.

Just found out that the weight of the new high torque ones is around 3.9kg's so will not take up too much of my mom's weight allowance.

[Stag76]

Hi Phil,
So long as all the wiring, battery, starter motor etc. is in good order, the hi-torque starter motor is not really warranted in this climate, as it never gets cold enough to really affect it. If your starter is struggling, maybe new brushes and bearings will fix it. I've got a couple of spares here if you want a replacement.

TR7 Convertible
Sprint Motor
MegaSquirt EFI

[FI Spyder]

It's true a good starter will work fine, the gear reduction starter seems to work easier, part of that easier may be "different". My starter is a Nippon Denso. The weight saving would be in the order of 25% to 33%, not done by weighting but just by side by side lifting. The size of the starter is tiny , the solenoid is almost as big but the combined solenoid/starter package is almost as big. There is no place to clip on the heat shield as the starter is so small so I made my own using the mirror image of a Chevy starter that goes on the RH side, out of a piece of aluminum. Apparently these starters are indestructible under normal use and the only thing that goes eventually is the solenoid contacts because of the arcing and they are only a couple of buck a piece.

My advice is if your starter works, leave it, if it's hooped, get a gear reduction starter rather than pay big bucks for a new one. If you have access to a cheap/free original then that's fine too.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[nick]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by FI Spyder</i>

While it might be the starter it might not. One fall it wouldn't start, only clicked. I too thought it was the starter as the battery was good so I ordered a gear reduction starter.Put it in over the winter, next spring on first start, same thing. Just clicked. Pulled the starter relay, the connectors looked like new with the dielectric grease on them. Sprayed some contact cleaner in the connection block that plugs into the relay. Worked fine for the next two years. Happened again in Kirkland on the way back from Portland. Got back home and sprayed it and it was fine for a year. One the way back from Portland last year it happened at a rest stop, got a push start to get me to a Wal-mart where I bought a bottle of contact cleaner. Sprayed the connection block and it's been fine since. I now will spray it every spring and carry the bottle in my tool bag.

(I left the gear reduction starter in).


- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

In this case I would suspect the relay connector. I have been preaching for a while that these connectors can have pushed backed spades inside the connector. You can't see it but usually you can feel it by pushing the wire back into the connector. The spade makes contact with the wire but not a solid one. I had this problem and thought it was the starter. The relay would click but but that was all. I swapped starters between two cars to no avail. That's when I started looking at the connector. The second generation cars have somewhat better connectors. The ones in the first gen are rubbish.

[img][IMG]http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt234/nickmi/TR7%201975/Yellow.jpg[/img]
nick
'79 TR7 DHC
'76 TR7 FHC

[g4zur]

Update as promised, sorry It's late.
I removed the original starter motor and fitted a std. replacement from Robsport, Excellent service as always, Thanks chaps.
Guess what, Just a click still, So I fitted a new Relay, The blue one I purchased at the same time as the starter motor.
Guess again "click"
Getting frustrated I cursed, My neighbour who was up the ladder at the time shouted "sounds like a flat battery to me" so off to bench, multimeter and ha ho. 8 volts.
Taking into consideration my profession, What A imv;oiuky I am.
New battery fitted, all ok.
We live and learn.
Many thanks as always to forum and great people on it.
Regards Gareth.


G.P.Albrighton

[Workshop Help]

Just for fun, take your old starter to be tested. If it tests out okay, keep it for a spare. If not, it may be repairable.

With the new starter installed, you have the luxury of time to do some investigation.

Mildred Hargis