82 starter problems
 

what up.... well long story short..installed a rebuilt starter hooked everything up and when i try to start it nothing all the pilots on the dash light up then when i hit the key all the way nothing???no crank no noise but took it to auto zone and they said it was good... a little help please??

Check and clean the battery connections, then try again...

Does anyone have any pics of how the starter should be hooked up

Did they actually test the starter?

yes they did i heard it work any everything they also checked my battery and said it was good too.. so im lost

Check your battery cable going to starter. Big problem i see in alot of cars. I work at Autozone and that's the first thing i suggest to a customer when their starter passes.

i tried all that this past weekend... and nothing no crank but the engine spins freely from main pulley.... when i keep trying to crank both the positive and negative wires get really hot .... any other ideas

try hooking up the starter direct to the battery, if it works then its ur ignition key, if not its ur cable

Are you saying that you already installed brand new battery cables?

And don't lie to me, I'm a father of three and I can tell when someone is trying to lie to me. :(

no not the cable the terminals to the cables

High resistance inside the cables (internal corrosion) would explain why they are heating up....

thanks im going to change them asap

Also did you compare the 2 starters when you replaced them I have seen some starters that have the power cable and the ground cable positions switched, So make sure that they are both the same.

i took it to a place were they do rebuilt and they said thats the right one that i might have a short somewere....

I just had the same problem. With the key in the on position, everything came on and worked fine. With the key in the start position, NOTHING. This told me that most likely the cars wiring was fine, and it was either an ignition short, or something with the starter.

Pulling the steering column cover, everything looked fine. So I popped the hood, grabbed the cables/wires between the ground on the fender, and the starter, shook them, tugged them, pulled on them, and it started right up!

When I got home, even though it looked the all the starter connections were secure, and finger tight, the positive cable (12mmNut) needed about a full turn with a ratchet. Haven't had a problem since. So check and double check your connections.

And on a side note, I put 3 re-manufactured starters in my dads car before we got 1 that worked. In my experience most of the starter testing is done with no load and the assumption is 'it spins freely it must work.' Once load is applied that can all change

I bet its the battery leads like kentetsu said above. that or its hooked up wrong. I have the positive up top, and negative on the bottom. I helped a forum member figure out what was wrong and he just didn't have the ignition trigger hooked up. just go through and double check everything.

Funny story about replacing a starter. I replaced the starter in my Chevy luv. I went up front reconnected the negative battery lead. and it fired up and drove down the block. Key was in the on position, and it was in 1st gear. I had to chase that sob down the street before it hit anything.

i changed both cables today strait from starter to battery,and got a stronger battery thinking the battery didnt have juice /cold cranks to turn motor....because engine doesnt spin.. after about 5 tries the positve wire got extemely hot that it began to melt..... im thinking it might be the silinoid(i dont think i spelled that right) on the starter...???..??

have you tried the starter off of the car? it would take all of 5 minutes!

just set the starter's negative terminal (the one with the braided wire coming off of it) on the battery's neg terminal, jump the starter's spade terminal to the starter's positive post, and get like a foot of 8 gauge wire and clamp the starter's positive post down on it.

with the negitive terminal sitting on the battery's terminal, all you have to do is touch the pos-pos... simple!

My other Rx7 did the exact same thing trying to start it, though it was cranking. I could even see a bit of smoke coming up, then noticed the battery had leaked. I got a new battery, new terminal clamps and it was fine. Actually now that I think about it, Im suprised I didnt fry the starter. But I never understood the cause of all that heat.

Does the motor turn over by hand?

Otherwise, you've got some wires crossed somewhere, probably at the starter if you're lucky...

motor does turn by hand.... i see smoke come fronm the starter silinoid ... when i try to start i can see the fan move about an inch thats it ...i dont think i have them crossed, the same way i took it off i put it back on i checked all the fuses they are goood...

should i try to get another starter???

Let me ask you this: Do you have both large battery cables connected to the solenoid? If so, that is wrong. Many people make the mistake that one side of the solenoid is + and the other is -. This is not the case. It should be like this:

- (-) battery cable connected to a bellhousing bolt
- (+) cable connected to the solenoid (terminal that doesn't have anything connected to it)
- trigger wire on spade connector on solenoid

The other large terminal on the starter will normally not have anything connected to it. There will be a wire connected to it that leads to the starter body. There may be a fusible link connected t this terminal (for hot start assist), but is not needed.

It soulds like you have both battery cables connected to the solenoid. Ifthis is the case, there will be a direct short between + and - when you try to start. This would cause the melting, smoking, and the starter not cranking.

Take a look at how you have it and maybe post a pic if you are not sure.

ok 1 (+) cable goes to starter soleniod
2 (-) cable goes to starter soleniod with the steel braided wire.
the (-) has a braket in the middle of the wire to bolt to chassis
1 spade connector on selenoid

thats how it was hooked up when i took it off and thats i hooked it back up ....let me know if im doing something wrong...

i will try to post some pics...thanks

Yep. That is wrong. The negative has to be bolted to the engine (use a bellhousing bolt). There should only be one large battery cable connected to the solenoid (positive cable).

Connect it up as I posted above. The negative cable is also attached to the chassis as you mentioned above.