Phauss

iTrader: (3)

I've recently had a problem starting about a week ago where I would turn the key to start the car, but the starter motor wouldn't turn. There wasn't the telltale dead battery clicking, and I checked everything else to make sure the battery was fine. I would turn the key halfway so the clock would turn on, then turn it the rest of the way to crank. The clock turned off and music stopped when the key was turned, as normal, but there would be one click and then silence.

This happened to me once at around 2 in the morning a week ago after stopping in a parking lot for 15 minutes. I ended up pushing the car home, and later in the morning, the car started just fine. I wouldn't have been too concerned about it, except this happened again last night. I stopped at the grocery store for 10 minutes, came out to the car, and the motor wouldn't turn. Only after turning the key about 300 times did the starter motor do its job and start the engine.

What are the things to look at in this type of situation?

Phauss

iTrader: (3)

Just happened again. I talked to my dad about it and he tells me that the click tells me the solenoid is working, which also tells me my ignition switch works. I'm going to open up my workshop manual tomorrow and check out the different connections on the starter motor to make sure everything's clean and plugged in.

satch

iTrader: (1)

First off, do you have the factory alarm?

There is a blue plug near your main relay and trailing coil. Either this blue plug is connected to the starter cut relay or it is by itself. On this plug there is a Black/Green wire and this wire should have voltage on it when the key is put to "start." Check this wire for voltage when trying to start and see if this wire has voltage on it every time you try to start the car for it should. If this wire always has voltage when key is turned to start then check the Black/White wire for voltage while doing the same thing. The B/W wire carries voltage to the starter solenoid. You can disconnect the B/W (small guage wire that slides on-not bolted to the starter) wire from the starter solenoid to do this testing especially if your car wants to turnover each time you turn the key to start.

Phauss

iTrader: (3)

My car doesn't have a factory alarm. I don't have a volt meter in my mix of tools (not one more than two contacts and a light bulb to show current), so my dad will be coming over tomorrow with his and we'll go over the wires you're specifying. He wants to help me out with it and get some knowlwdge on it incase it happens to his Turbo II, haha. (His does have a factory alarm system, so I'll show him your post so he can take notes.)

I'll post here sometime tomorrow to show my progress. Thanks for that info on the wires to check.

satch

iTrader: (1)

A bit more info. A Black wire from the engine fuse box passes voltage onto a Black/Red wire that is a part of the ignition switch wiring harness when the key is turned to "start." This B/R wire then travels to the interlock switch located on the clutch pedal. When the pedal is depressed on startup the voltage passes from B/R to Black/Green and this B/G wire goes to the blue plug which is depicted below. The B/G wire then passes voltage onto the Black/White wire that connects to the starter solenoid. The clip that the B/W wire connects to on the solenoid might need some cleaning and dielectric grease for it's a fairly flimsy connection.



Your blue plug will likely be in a different position then in the pic but it "will be" close by.

3xBlack Vert-top Mike

1st: check the battery if is fine...
2nd: test the starter if thats ok...
3rd: somewhere near your master cylinder and around the coil there is a relay its not a rare thing for it to go bad you can replace it or just jump it and you will never have to worry about that again...(i believe satch has a picture of it but that might be something else just investigate it!)

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

sounds like a poor connection at the battery. check both + and - terminals and make sure they're clean and tight.

satch

iTrader: (1)

One item I forgot to mention was as the Black/White wire travels to the starter solenoid, the B/W wire plugs into one last connector before the starter and splits the B/W wire into two wires. One leads to the starter while the other goes to pin 3B of the ECU. If the voltage checks out okay at the blue plug with respect to the B/G and B/W wires then the connector, located before the starter solenoid where the split occurs, needs to be given a look over.

Phauss

iTrader: (3)

I checked absolutely every wire I could get my hands on. I eventually decided to check the starter itself by unplugging the wire to the solenoid and bridging the contact with the power contact on the starter motor from the battery. Sparks flew, but no crank. Gentlemen, I believe I have a bad starter motor.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Your last test would suggest a bad starter. You can bench test it to be thorough, or have it tested at an auto parts store.

And just in case the starter turns out to be fine, this thread will be helpful: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/ive-solves-2nd-gen-sticky-starter-mystery-896013/.

DrunkenSin

I don't mean to thread jack but I seem to be experiencing the very same problem with my 87 GXL. The car was recently sitting not driven for 2 months until I recently bought it and the car did not have a battery in it. I tested to see if it'll crank if I used the battery from my friends 91 Miata (not sure if this was a good idea or bad) and the motor did crank but it didn't start up. The day after one of my other friends let me use a bigger size battery (again, not sure if this was a good idea) and turns out the battery was long dead.

So after purchasing the right SIZE/COLD CRANK/ETC battery, I hooked it up and the motor didn't crank at all. I checked all my electrical stuff (wipers, blinkers, etc) and they all work but the motor just didn't want to start at all and after reading this thread I believe I may have a bad starter.

Thank you guys for your advice and help!