Glad it worked out for you!

 

bringing this back to let you guys know that I just ordered a new Starter Cut Relay for about $45 from Malloy

 

And I'll add that my 1992 JDM RHD car is exhibiting this problem sporadically at times.

However the JDM cars do not have the starter cut relay fitted, so I have very little idea of why it is even happening.

I will look into it further, but I will offer that the starter cut relay information in this thread does not seem to be relevant to the JDM RHD cars, as it seems to only be fitted to USDM models.

 

sorry to hear that, haha. look at my posts in this topic, all you need to do is run a new wire to the starter to fix it.

 

oh I'm happy about the price Tom, my car was starting fine with a starter booster relay and jumper on the blue connector but I was buying some other stuff from Ray and just asked about the price and since I found it affordable I decided to buy it.

I dunno, sometimes I feel better knowing something is working as it should without some patch or band aid. Even though it was starting fine I was uncomfortable with the little jumper wire in the plug. I'm keeping the booster relay though.

 

Thought I'd chime in with my thoughts on the topic since I just ran into the click click start issue and was able to solve it. Lot of good info in the thread, but I was hoping to get at the root cause of this issue rather than go with a bandaid repair such as the replay jumper wire or the Pettit addon relay.

There are lots of different solutions because the root cause is that there is too much of a voltage drop across the whole starter circuit and this causes the starter not to turn on when you turn the key. Each of these different solutions reduces the voltage difference enough that the starter is able to click on again, but in many cases, as the circuit degrades further the click click start issue resurfaces again.

I figured the best way to attack the voltage drop issue was to start by cleaning up key contact surfaces in the starter loop. Corrosion on terminals causes voltage drop.

-Start by making sure your battery terminals are clean and making secure contact (unlikely the issue, but a good place to start).

-The main problem area seemed to be the terminals that connect to the starter solenoid next to the starter motor (attached to the transmission/flywheel). These terminals looked to be in pretty rough shape after 20 years under the car. I unbolted the terminals (3 of them, one is a clip on) and sanded down all the contact parts with 400 grit sand paper until they shined. Upon reattaching the terminal bolts I was an idiot and over tightened the bolt causing threaded part to tear right off the starter solenoid. Be careful, the copper is soft! I have a feeling this clean up of the terminals would have solved the issue on it's own, but unfortunately I'll never know.

-Since I ripped off the threaded part of the starter solenoid, I need to get a new starter solenoid. You can track them down on ebay or amazon for about $30. There's a guy that basically sells only these (what a job). They're actually not listed as compatible with FDs but it's basically the same solenoid used on a range of cars. Just make sure the + and - terminals are in the right location and it has the correct round plastic end on the solenoid piston. I got mine from a local auto parts store because I hate having the car down for a couple days.

I hooked up the new starter solenoid and the car has started perfectly, always on the first attempt, for the past week or so now. So my rec would be to go this route: 1) clean solenoid connector terminals, 2) replace starter solenoid and if those fail to fix the problem then go with the jumper or Pettit type replay.

 

I still don't understand why no one ever changes the brushes in their starter motors..
Throw more voltage at it, and yeah it will probably go for a bit longer but it’s not fixing anything, especially in JDM cars with no security relay

99% of electric motors are BRUSHED, and all brushes wear out over time..In every electric motor situation..weather its brushes in an electric grinders, circular saws, starter motor, RC car motor, even our FD headlight motors have brushes which can be changed..and most are made to be replaced..because they are wear items.

the brushes are what directly transfer voltage to the aperture which then causes it to turn.
If they have worn down then they no longer push against the aperture properly and so the brushes don't transfer the voltage efficiently.

It doesn’t matter how good your other connections are if the brushes themselves within the starter motor are worn and not working efficiently. It’s just a band aid.

ever heard of a brushless motor? yea they last longer because they don't have brushes to wear down!

Change your brushes people!!!

not an FD starter but they are all pretty much the same;
the brushes are the 4 bits that are pointing in towards the center - they are pushed out under spring pressure


they push against the bit that this guy is pointing at, and they and wear down over time. it also gets covered in carbon which also diminishes conductivity
so in time they become so short that they no longer push against it properly so simply dont transfer voltage properly leading to click click click. while your in there give the bit the guy is pointing at a light sand to get rid of the carbon to increase conductivity

 

Can't remember if I posted but I did the relay jump on anothe car and it worked. This car I had to clean the starter contacts. It worked briefly but not for long I will be doing the booster mod.

 

Another bump and thanks. I just did this for a car I've owned for a long time. Took all of 2 minutes and starts every time now.

 

Slightly off topic, yet not really. My FD also does the click click start, but in addition, it always seems to set off the alarm, but no horn. Just all lights flash off and on for... a while. Suuuuuper annoying. The keyless entry remote that came with the car no longer works, but the strange thing is, is that the alarm goes off even if I do not lock the doors. Pretty much any time I open a door, or even the hatch, lights go off, and I hear a clicking noise, similar to a turn signal going off. Then click click start.

What in the wide world of fuc%?

 

Anyone?

 

FD's did not include a remote entry system from the factory. I would start by removing that modification as it is unnecessary, return your wiring to stock and see if that fixes your issue. Noone here is going to know exactly how your aftermarket key less entry interacts with the security system.

 

Does Goodfella, or anyone else, have his original pictures for this fix? The pictures are not showing up in his original post for whatever reason. I fabricated a wire about two years ago and had it attached, but have since removed it since it was my clutch pedal that was the immediate culprit of my no-start issue at the time. I kept the wire in my glove box just in case...but would like some pictures to joggle my memory before I sweat it out down there.

I'm currently having a "click-no start-immediate power shut-down of everything" problem that spontaneously occurs and then spontaneously fixes itself a few hours later. This has happened maybe four times in 14 years of ownership...but all within the last six years maybe. Problem now is it won't fix itself...so I got stranded at the office yesterday.

Much thanks in advance.

 

I have my picture that was posted of the security relay and jumper wire.

 

GoodfellaFD3S, I did the jumper part and my car starts no problem now. The only thing is my alarm system goes bananas. Any fix for that issue?

Thanks!

 

did the relay bypas with no cigar, BUT all of the diagrams for the starter booster helped. I was able to make my own and fix this problem. thanks guys!

 

I just made my own booster, omg...why didn't I do that 2 years ago? Works every time now.

 

I tried all the free options in this thread. Then I took my ignition switch out, and took it completely apart and cleaned all the contacts. added fresh grease, and put it back in the car. Thats when I realized it was "twisting", and yes the 1 screw was tight. Here's a video showing what I am talking about. This is what is wrong with my FD's starting issue.

 

Nice work.

 

"Soooo....yeaaa"

 

Thanks Mazderati



that was my initial reaction when i discovered that. haha! Then after I fixed that problem... It decided to lose the coolant through the overflow tank. swapped caps.... then it sucked the overflow down, and then was low in the engine. Still dumbfounded at the moment about that one. Starting to think it had some hardcore air in the system, as the previous owner removed the AST.

 

Trying this as soon as I get home tonight. My car does the no click at all thing.
I wired up the booster relay exactly to directions and as soon as I did that it surely sent power to the starter but it was doing some weird buzzing thing almost like a short or if something was wired wrong but I have checked and double checked my work 5 times and its exactly to diagram.

Def checking that connection on the ignition switch itself now.

 

That sounds familiar haha! That's also what mine would do. It was feint but it was there. if I held the key the ignition switch would start smoking. Which in why I took it apart and cleaned it all up and such to begin with. Then after realizing it worked teh first time, and then noticing the switch movement. I figured I'd post a video as I knew for a fact I was not alone on that venture.

 

I had a combination of problems. I consistently had the "click click start" issue, but once in a while I would have the "no click, no start" issue. I replaced the ignition switch with the Beck Arnley part (which is a genuine Mazda part, just 1/2 the price), and that solved the intermittent "no click, no start" issue. BUT I still had the "click click start" issue. Checked continuity on the clutch switch as well as the starter cut relay, and both seemed fine, but I tried bypassing the starter cut relay anyways, but that didn't solve anything in my case. So, I put together a starter booster relay and that solved the issue. Cranks right away now on the first attempt. However, while connecting all of wires for the booster relay, I got the feeling that just cleaning up the connection for the trigger wire to the starter solenoid might have done the trick, or actually replacing the spade connector with a new tight one would be better. My stock one was dirty and seemed a bit loose. I'll never know though because at that point, I was already committed to finishing the starter booster relay.

 

Decided to tackle this over the weekend. I opened the relay to see how it was setup and were the fault may lie. I don't believe the issue is with the 302 relay.

On the harness in the car I found the following: ( _ Denotes wire, X denotes blank)
TOP
_ _ X = 12v keyed , thick wire, blank
_ X _ = ~1v constant, blank, thick wire

It's pretty well documented that jumpering the two thick wires together allows the car to start without issue. I confirmed this as well.

I then cracked open the relay to see its resting state and how it was wired up. In its unenergized state the two thick wires are jumpered. Once 12v is applied to the relay, it opens which breaks the link between the two thick wires.

I believe the fault still lies somewhere farther up the line with the stock alarm. I believe that under "working" conditions when the alarm realizes the car has been properly disarmed and the key is in the ignition, it should cycle the 302 relay back to "open" to allow the car to start.

Something is keeping the 12v leg energized with prevents the relay from closing again. Many of the people that hear the relay clicking may here the 12v leg cycling back and forth until they catch it "open" and the car starts.

I have a factory service manual that I will have to crack open and trace back that 12v leg to see where it goes/what else may be causing the fault.