Alright guys, help me diagnose this beast because I have googled and searched everywhere and no one can tell me what the problem is...

For several weeks my starter would get slower and slower. At first it just took a little longer to turn the engine over but it almost always started. After a few days it began going so slow that sometimes it would not start the car.

Then it started going so slow that I couldn't start it anymore and sometimes it would just give me a click click noise or it wouldn't turn over at all.

I tested the battery. It is an 84 month battery and I have only had it for a year and a half. Headlights, interior lights and kenwood stereo all worked. The dash cluster showed right under 12 volts with the car off.

Just for fun I hooked it up to my wife's sentra with jumper cables and it still won't start.

I got a new starter.

I installed the new starter and cleaned the positive connector with steel wool. Everything is tight, jumper cables are hooked up, plenty of power. (Dash shows right under that second mark above 12 volts - s4)

Now this new starter is simply buzzing.

BUZZZZZ


BUZZZZZ

It doesn't even try to turn the car over. It doesn't click. It just buzzes as if the starter is grinding something or stuck or something.

I replaced the solenoid with the new starter.

So the battery is good, the solenoid is new and the starter itself is new. Connections are clean, no corrosion from what I can tell and they are tight.

What on earth is going on?

Thanks for the help guys.

Cheers,
Cody

 

is it wired up correctly?

 

Ground is attached to the unit itself. It has two wires, one that gets pushed down by a nut and another little wire that slips over a little connector. It is hooked up just like the old one.

Everything should be perfect.

Cheers,
Cody

 

The starter should ground by bolting onto the transmission, not a separate wire.

Test it off the car. +12V to big terminal, ground to body, then +12V to spade connector to activate solenoid.

Hopefully you don't have damaged teeth on the flywheel. That would suck.

 

Flywheel and new starter teeth look fine. No sign of grinding.

The new starter is hooked up just like the old one was. It has three wires connecting to it. One is the spade connector, the second is the 12+ that connects via a nut and the other looks like a ground that runs from the (solenoid?) to the starter and like the 12+ connects via a nut.

I turned the engine over by hand (by moving the fly wheel with some brute force) and checked the teeth out, they look fine. I have no idea. Could this be a weird fuse problem?

Really sad since this is my daily. My wife has to drop me off and pick me up from work now.

Cheers,
Cody

 

Your starter might not have be the problem.

The battery should have over 12 v resting and you really need a load tester to tell if it's good or not.

See if the same thing happens with jumper cables from a running car. Sounds like your batt is done.

 

you could pull the starter out of the car and bench test it to see if it works ([B]MAKE SURE IT IS CLAMPED DOWN WELL) and it should not take a lot of force to spin the motor over by hand

 

This is what everyone says. As I stated in my first post however, I have hooked my 7 up to my wife's Sentra with jumper cables and it does the exact same thing.

It is not the battery.

Cheers,
Cody

 

If you still have the Old starter,Compare it to the new one.
Also there are TWO Big Connectors on that Starter and only ONE goes to Positve.the other being a spade connector(single wire 12 volt switched))to the solenoid.
..IF YOU (sorry caps) Put the posiive on the other one,it is GROUNDING out.
and it may be BUZZING because it is getting 12 volts to the solenoid but not 12 volts to the starter to turn it.