Hi Club,

My car won't start. I have an 89 GXL. Practically stock. It is daily driven. My car ran this morning and after shutting it off for about 8 hours or so I tried starting it again but no cranks. Everything works fine as far as my lights but I hear no cranks. I do hear as if a solenoid is trying to work itself to get the car fired up. I mean out of all days this happened. So I tried giving it a jump because maybe I thought it would be the battery but no, that did not seem to be the problem. Knowing that my battery is practically new. It is an Optima Redtop, new spark plugs and wires, alternator is good. One I thing I did noticed is when I popped my radiator cap off, a slight burst of coolant came out as if air was escaping. Was suppose to do that? I am sure that would not be the problem. Do I have bad coolant seals? By the way the FC has 168,XXX miles on it and they are original miles. Could the motor had seen it's last days?

I did try the deflooding procedure where I hold in the throttle and turning it on but I do not see the use of doing it if it does not crank. Any help would be great. Thank you

 

Make sure the battery terminals are clean and are tightened down.

 

Try roll starting it.
Very likely it's a starter or start circuit issue, if it pop starts, you know where to look.

 

To begin with, the thicker of the two Black/Green wires at the Starter Cut Relay should have voltage w/key to start. Does it?

 

My girlfriends does this all the time, I think it is just faulty/corroded wiring or the ignition switch is going.

 

tap the key and see if it eventually cranks. it is a common problem with the starter circuit with age and higher resistance.

eventually i got tired of it and added a relay down by the starter itself to turn the high amp start circuit to a low amp trigger circuit for the relay. this cures almost all FC/FD starting issues.

 

can you jump it or is it dead-dead.

 

I tried jumping it but for some reason that is not the issue. I will look into it as soon as I can. But for now I don't even get any cranks. But all my lights and electricals do work. I can hear the starter as if it is trying hard to start. Thanks for your inputs guys.

 

Ok guys...my car is running as we speak. A cloud of white smoke bursted out of the exhaust for about 2 seconds, then it went away and she seem to be running fine. I have no clue why she would not start last night. I will most likely inspect the starter and the battery after I get her warmed up then I will tightened down my battery terminals make sure they are good. Once again thanks guys.

 

Checking the wire as suggested at the Starter Cut Relay would have told you if the ignition was sending a signal to this relay or not. If not then the car could not possibly crank. There is a switch referred to as the Interlock Switch which is located between the Starter Cut Relay and the starter and if this relay received voltage from the Starter Cut Relay but did not pass the voltage on to the starter then that obviously would not allow the starter to engage. You could possibly have a problem at the Ignition Switch, Starter Cut Relay, Interlock Switch and starter (these items are listed in the order that the signal from the ignition runs through as it arrives at the starter).

 

OK. Thank you for the info. I got the car running now. Everything is in working order but I did not check the cut relay. Honestly, all I did was started the car then it ran. Then I pulled the car in my garage to inspect and clean the battery terminals. They were a little dirty but not enough evidence to determine if that caused the problem. So Satch next time it does this again I will know what to look for next but at the meantime I am satisfied that the car is running. Thank you.

By any chance Satch you think you can find a diagram that shows the starting sequence? I would like to see a visual on it so I can trace the starting system. If not it is ok. I thank you.

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzy-...hl=en_US&pli=1

 

Was the solenoid engaging but the motor not spinning?

I'd be suspect of worn out brushes in the starter motor itself.

 

2x check your starter grounds and connections real quick. lots of times they can just rattle loose...and lots of times it just needs a new starter.

however, the reason i asked if you could jump it is MOST of the time when it wont start and you CAN jump it, the starter is just worn on the inside and its either time for new contacts or just a new starter. the extra amperage from a second battery is normally enough to crank that sucker over and get you home/idling.

If it were me, id check the leads, if that didnt help pull it and test it via old screw driver method, and if i still got 0, id just buy a new one.

 

Thank you there

 

So it has done the same thing to me again. So Most likely the starter is the issue. It was funny when I jacked the car on one side (driver side) then I had my little brother help me turn on the car while it was jacked it cranked and started as soon as he press the throttle. Then I was able to run the car home. As soon as I got time I will look into it. So the starter is located in the bottom?

And Yes jjwalker I can hear the solenoid engaging like crazy. But the motor was not spinning.

 

If that's the case, then the starter is worn out. It is under the car and bolted to the driver side of the transmission bellhousing.

 

Yes. I got you. Thank you. You know where I can get my hands on one? I looked all over Mazdatrix and can't seem to find anything. I am looking underneath the car now.

 

I replace the starter with a new. Seems now it starts and cranks but it has some grinding noises before the car starts. Do the teeth has to be aligned before I install it? I am investigating the problem., The car runs though.