Hey guys,

Problem started just out of the blue, car was running fine, i turn it off one day and 10 minutes later jumped back in and try to start it again and nothing...

I checked all fuses and the 'start' relay under the hood and there all good. The little pad to hit the clutch switch is good, and the battery is fine. At first i figured it wasn't the starter since they make some kind of noise or action, like slow cranking, clicking or free wheeling. But then they also have the solenoid on top which when goes bad gives no audible sound right?

The way the car acts is basically if you jump in the car and don't push in the clutch and just try to turn the key to start it. No noise, no movement, no nothing.

I do have a remote starter but i cant think of a way it could interfere in this problem. Does this sound like a starter?

Now my second issue... I've been trying to remove the starter so i could get it tested but i feel like the biggest idiot ever. I've googled and looked and read and checked out hma and they all say the same thing. For the life of me i cant find my starter... 02.gif when i replaced the clutch i remember seeing it but that was over a year ago and cant by any measure find it now. I've took out my CAI and all the sites say to remove the starter or speed cable to remove it. Only cable i can find and even think of in the engine there is the cable that controls how much your throttle body opens but i really don't see how that's in the way of anything since i can just push it aside.

Of all the things i've done to the car and fixed i really do feel as dumb as they get for not being able to find it 02.gif

 

its on the back side of the block, lay under the car with your head below the firewall and look up/forward

 

Ya well thats the other issue that i have, i can only really get it from the top at this point, it died in the street and its been snowing the last few days quite abit so theres lots of snow, slush and water everywhere so really not something i trust lifting a car in and resting on stands with me under it laying in a few inchs of 0 degree water =/

 

Can you tow it? That's gonna be a bish trying to go from the top

 

ya i could, but then i'd have to pay for the tow and it would go to a shop probably since i dont think the driver could stick it nicely in my garage and all the money spent on that defeats doing it myself lol im dreading having to spend the extra dough right now on just the cost of the starter

 

Friend with pickup truck + real tow strap = your car @ home

You would really have to pull the intake manifold to get the starter from the top easily.

 

get a friend to tow it would be best, but worst case have the driver dump it outside and push it in, its a light car.

I don't see why you couldn't jack it up and at least put a tester on it to make sure the starter is actually live when it should be.

Can you bypass your remote start system to make sure that didn't go out?

 

I don't think it's your starter, unless it's the wiring to it. Normally either the solenoid dies, or the starter motor dies, not both. You would either hear a whirring sound (motor turning with dead solenoid) or a clicking (solenoid pulling in with dead motor). I would double check the easy stuff first like the clutch switch (use a multimeter, the way a switch looks on the outside tells nothing about the contacts inside).

 

I heard you mentioned a clutch pedal; did you try push starting it?

 

unless you got a vast array of good tools, way easier to have a mechanic do the starter. that is the only thing i will pay to get put back in, it is a royal pain in the azz if you are trying to replace it, lying on the ground.

even with a lift it isnt fun.

flame all you want guys, starters suck.