no start. i turn the key to the start position and can hear the fuel pump. but not so much as a click out of the starter. only recent change was grounding. only added a 3 foot 4ga wire from negative terminal to block and the an 1 foot 4ga wire from block to firewall. didnt touch any other wiring. and this has been working wonderfully for 3 days now. always starts easy with 3 seconds of cranking at most. and the starter always turns first time every time. i have no other transportation and nobody to call. getting 12.88v at the starter (left post) cant check the right by myself. as i cant turn the key and get under the car at the same time. any help would be great

 

sounds like main relay

 

ok cool. any way to test? i have one on a parts car. but thats 25 miles away

 

Sounds crude, but grab your lug wrench and tap the starter with it and try to start it. Repeat this a few times. There may be a bad spot in the starter armature/ commutator and sometimes tapping will get it past the bad spot. Good luck.

 

scrip. you sir are a life saver. it worked!

 

when in doubt, whack it with a big wrench!

 

Also main relay has to do with fuel, not the starter.

 

I have had the same problem and luckily a passerby said the same thing. Hit it with something I thought? No way. Sure enough, bad starter solenoid.

 

Most always if you can tap the starter case and it starts, it will fail you again, so replace that sucker!

 

i will be replacing it this weekend. thanks again.

 

I had a problem w/ my S5's starter way back in the day. Tried to turn the car over and it would just click. Hit the starter w/ a wrench and it would always work. I thought it was the solenoid but went to have it looked at and the brushes were worn out. Had it rebuilt completely for around $20 at our local shop that rebuilds starters and alternators. No problems w/ it after that for some 2 years or so.

 

I got stranded due to my fuel pump once. I parked, killed the truck, did what I was doing, got back into truck and it wouldn't start. The pump was fairly loud in my truck and it obviously wasn't coming on.

A good swift kick to the gas tank and I was back in business. Unfortunately I had a full tank of gas, so instead of being able to just drop the tank, I had to unbolt and remove the bed instead.

 

Accessing the fuel pump in FC's is a breeze!

 

Except when all the little screws are rusted on

 

You're in an RX-7, bump start it you nub.

 

I had considered that option, however I was parked on a driveway angled down towards the garage at about 25 degrees. I might have been able to push 2800lbs up a 25 degree slope to get it into the street, that is, if I could have gotten it over the curb by myself. I was just worried that with nobody there to hit the breaks if I slipped, that either I would have ended up underneath her, or she would have rolled through the homeowners brand new garage door. Neither sounded pleasant.

 

Just messing with you... bump starting only works if you've got an ASSTON of open space and your engine can start within one revolution (mine won't ATM but it sued to) if you're by yourself, or you've got a steep hill to use...

 

or....if you're a beast and can push your car fast enough on flat ground to hop in and pop the clutch

 

Lol this one time I stalled my car at the bottom of my driveway, then it flooded. Rather than deflooding it and the driving another 10 feet and turning it off again, I walked around to the back of the car, got a running start and got it almost halfway up the driveway by myself. It was pretty painful afterwards.

 

You were stranded in a driveway?

 

i know this is a stupid way but my 86 didnt have the clutch safety switch so you could crank it with it in gear. yea i was 16 and it helped getting it to hill when the car would flood. lol

 

I can do it, but only if my car is in the mood to start within one or two revolutions...which it hasn't been for a while. It's easy if you've got someone in the car to hold the clutch in and release it instead of having to put it in gear. The problem stems from the fact that you lose 20-30% of your speed from peak, to when you actually manage to pop the clutch. And your engine has to be super reliable starting-wise.