ok im working on a friends 91 rx7 vert first off. but i changed the starter today and we got the click the silinoid gives you when you turn the key. we were not getting this a while back. the car has 51k origional miles and it just wont start now. the battery is charged but we are charging it again. enen tho it was reading 13-15 volts on the gage. we are going to try a push start but.... i was wondering if any one had any ideas on what could be happening. it has me boggled. thanks

-victor

 

So whats the problem? Will the engine not turn over or will the starter not operate?

 

new starter hooked up correctly etc.. and it only clicks sounds like a dead/weak battery. try a jump start, the battery may be messed up.

 

we did try to jump start it and it still just clicked it wont turn over at all and we checked and made sure the starter was connected correctly. when we tryed to jump it it didnt strain the other car at all like normaly happens when u jump a car. we also tryed cleaning the terminals. still nothing aside of the blasted click. we have no idea

 

Sounds like the bat. terminals are loose or dirty. Take a volt meter to one of the battery stabs and 1 to the other terminal. If you get less than 12V, thats your problem.

 

Forgot to mention, test it with the key turned forward (not cranking) just on so that you are placing a load on it.

 

if all you're getting is the click, no other action at all, then i believe that has to do with the starter. it sounds like you're trying everything, but ignoring the starter. is the starter acting like its getting no power (aside from the click) ? not trying to turn the engine over? (i mean NO sound other than the click)
there's no need to charge a battery that's putting out proper voltage. checking the voltage at the starter would make more sense.

 

but its a brand new starter.... and its hooked up right.... somewhere betwen the batery and the starter SOMTHING is going wrong cuz it clicks but doesnt turn it it has enough amps at the battery.

ps: NO sound other than the click

 

make sure the connections that screw onto the battery are tight.

I just lightly tightened them before, and had the same problem.

I tightened them more, and it fixed it

 

Kingcobrav9: you hit the nail on the head.

and what's between the battery and the starter?

The cable, and the terminal. One of the above isn't working.

take and run a jumper cable from the + wire on the battery to the terminal on the starter for the + wire and try again.

take a different jumper cable and go from the - terminal on the battery to the alternator bracket or something else steel and conductive attached to the engine.

BE CAREFUL WHILE DOING THIS, and hook up the starter and engien ends of the wire FIRST.

 

Is it a brand new starter, or a remanufactured starter? They charge a core charge for not turning in the old one because they usually rebuild the old one and sell it again. Its not unheard of for "new" starters to work incorrectly. I'd try a different one.

 

see i thought when only the starter clicked, the solenoid wasn't passing through the power.
i don't understand what starters don't sometimes try to start a car when they don't have enough power. for instance, sometimes a starter "chugs" and at least tries, other times, i believe, a "dead" battery only causes the starter to *click.*
all i can say is to test the power at the starter. if its power and ground are both good, i don't see how it couldn't be the starter.
if all you replaced/messed with was the starter, than i don't see why something else would spontaneously be a problem. you said the battery was good. even if the one of the connectors on a terminal wasn't tight, you still said you tried to jump start which would have most likely worked since you put jumpers cables directly onto your power and ground cables. in that sense, your power and grounds should be good, and the clicking implies that power is getting to the starter. all i can think of is to test + and - at the starter.

 

The solenoid on a starter is just a huge relay.

 

give the starter a nice tap with a 2x4 while trying to roll it over.

 

check your ground wire...

 

Put a nail through the terminal/battery. I had it ghetto rigged like that for a year. I used to get the click problem all the time due to poor connections.