i just finished putting my car back together after changing the clutch. started it yesterday and it started fine beside i forogt to tighten an oil line and it leaked. so i shut her right down without letting it warm up. i know it probly flooded that y it wouldnt start today, but in the middle of the unflooding process, the starter stopped working. i dunno if i burned it out or if it was on its way out and just happened to go. any ideas? i do know that while putting the tranny back on there was a wire that didnt go anywhere, i dunno what it was for or where it goes, so i just left it hanging. it seems as if it were a ground, but it started fine yesterday so i dont think that would be the problem. thanks.

 

The starter may jhave quit -OR- you may have carbon lock. This past fall we thought the starter had died on a friend's 7. So we put my starter on it.

It was carbon locked.

To find out, take the starter out at jumper it. If it works, your motor is probably carbon locked and it's time to get some ATF or MMO...

 

mmo? whats that?

 

o and the only sound i hear is the whirring of the selinoid on the starter. nothing more.

 

well the starter works fine, and i tried to turn the fly wheel and it seems to turn fine. what do u mean by carbon lock? i hope i didnt break anything, that seems to be the way of my luck recently.

 

MMO = Marvel Mystery Oil

If you can turn the motor by hand it isn't carbon locked. Lucky = yuo!

Next thing to check is if you're getting zap to the starter motor. Check your fuses and when you reinstall the starter motor make sure everything's nice and snug.

 

great, at least i know thats not the problem. well ill keep working on it then and i think im gonna try the atf treatment anyways, just so that it deffienatly starts

 

Using ATF when the motor isn't carbon-locked or flooded won't significantly improve the chances of it starting. If you're turning the key and the starter isn't spinning then it's timeto check that the starter is getting power.

 

yeah, thats what i was thinking. but how would i posibly do that? i mean there isnt any power going to it when u rnt starting the car right? i was thinking use a test light or multimeter, but this would present a problem with that.

 

Hook up that transmission ground. Clean off the electrical contacts on the car/starter when you put it back together. If the starter isnt working when its in the car, but is when you bench test it, its safe to assume you have a broken wire or a blown fuse.

 

If you hear a click, but the starter doesn't turn, then it's shorted out. This has happend twice to me. Or as "Amur" said, you may have carbon lock.

 

thanks i try that and see what happens

 

Sorry I didn't elaborate last night. I felt like crap and wanted to go to bed, so I just got the basic 411 out.

Checking the starter:
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=111755

Keep in mind that it turned out that there was nothing wrong with the starter. The motor was carbon locked.

 

nope the motor isnt carbon locked. the starter motor is fine too. its the gear on the starter, it wont disengage.

i put it back on and it worked great the next few times i cranked the engine, but then it stoped again. so i got back underneath and turned the flywheel threw the hole in the bottom and heard something poped. i figured that might be it and it was. so needless to say i need a new starter, anyone willing to donate to a poor college student? lol.