As mentioned earlier i think my starter is dead, but I just wanted to say when i turn the key, if you have the hood open you can hear a rapid clicking. Does that mean shes dead?

 

A rapid clicking while the key is held to START usually means the battery connections are not so good. Or the connection of the power wire at the starter is loose. Largest wire with a nut on it on the starter. Also there is another large wire at the starter. Its the ground wire and is connected to the long, outboard starter attach bolt. Gotta be tight. Both. Don't break anything because I said *Gotta be tight*. Snug will do. Judgement thing.

 

english please, so much of that is sentance fragments and i cant understand a thing lol

 

1. A rapid clicking while the key is held to START usually means the battery connections are not so good.

2. Or the connection of the power wire at the starter is loose. That's the largest wire with a nut on it on the starter.

3. Also there is another large wire at the starter. Its the ground wire and is connected to the long, outboard starter attach bolt. The bolts gotta be tight. Both bolts and nuts.

4. Don't break anything because I said *Gotta be tight*. Snug will do. It's a judgement thing.

5. When starting a sentence, one usually uses a capital letter.

6. The pronoun I, is always written using a capital letter.

7. You need to explain just when the rapid clicking is happening. When the key is held to START? Or other times?

 

It just clicks when its held to start, and thx.

 

I'd say it's a loose connection at the battery, but it could be a loose connection at the two places at the starter also.

Most bad starters just go whirr when the key is turned or make a grunting sound and drag the battery down.

Just turn the lights on the car and aim them at something close. When the key is turned to START, if the lights go plumb dim/off, then its the battery connections.

If the lights stay bright, then I'd say the connections at the starter itself.

 

Had the same problem just check your starter, get under your car and hit it with a wrench or something worked for me, then i had to get a new one lol.

 

Ah, yes. If you turn the key to Start, and you just hear a click, a single click, then it could be the starter solenoid.

But if you hear rapid clicks while the key is held to Start, then I stand by what I said earlier.

With the single click as described above, then sometimes a rap with a hammer will get it working as a temp fix. I took apart a starter that did this to me. One of the brushes had a broken spring. The spring is the one that holds the brush agains the commutator jobber. Bought a new starter. Brush assy not available at that time.

 

well, we already redid the battery connection a couple times

 

It could be the battery. I installed a new battery recently, and after a couple of days, I started having problems with the starter. I never suspected the battery because I always had power (lights, radio, power windows etc), but when I went to start the engine, the starter would be very slow, then speed up and start. Eventually (after a couple of weeks), all I got was a rapid clicking when I went to start it. I reinstalled the old battery (which by the way was only 3 months old), and I haven't had a starter problem since.
I took the 'new' battery back to Crappy Tire, where they tested it, and it came up BAD.
Can you start the car by boosting? If so, you are looking at either a charging problem (which also includes wiring as stated above), or it could be the battery.