drained the battery the other day so I threw the charger on for about a day and a half, got in today, starter sounded real weak, then didn't make a sound at all. checked all the fuses, put a meter on the battery and was putting out about 12.9v and checked all the cables for looseness, still nothing. took the starter off ran to autozone and bench tested it, ran fine. put it back in, still, nothing. the only things I can think of is the ignition itself, or the neutral saftey switch.




edit: starter is a Hitachi, and I really dont feel like spending 150 bucks on a starter to replace a perfectly good one.

 

I think your battery is toast, but first try cleaning and tightening the battery connectors and ground wire.

 

I cleaned the connections are the cables were good and snug, plus all my lights, radio, etc comes on just fine when I turn the key

 

Im pretty sure it is the neutral switch, now I just have to figure out how to get it out...

 

Your observation above makes your diagnosis unlikely.

 

lights, radio, and accessories take far less amperage than does a starter motor. Can you jump start the car, that is, with jumper cables connected to another vehicle and the starter motor spins quickly? Can you borrow another known good battery just long enough to toss it in your car and see if the starter motor spins quickly? Have you cleaned/tightened your cables as Ron J suggested? You may be going down a rabbit hole unless you take the suggested steps....

Ed Fisher
Dallas, Tx

 

tried that, no go, going to take the starter out and bench test it again, possibly take the battery and put that to a carbon pile. :/

 

These parts can all be tested on the car. No need to remove them. When you remove parts for testing you still can't be sure if they would work on the car.

You can bypass the key switch, neutral switch, etc. by jumping the small terminal on the starter to battery (+). This tests the starter, battery, and interconnecting wires. For safety, do this with the key off (you don't want it to actually start) and be absolutely sure the car is not in gear.

Measure voltage at the battery (on the lead posts, not the terminals) when you try to start. If it drops below 9 volts, battery is bad. If battery voltage stays up, repeat the test measuring voltage at the starter. If starter has voltage but won't turn, starter is bad. If you have voltage at battery but not at the starter, check the battery terminals and main power and ground wires.

 

thanks MK, i talked to a friend and he told me to hard start the starter, im going to try that tomorrow, and if that fails, i am going to take his starter off his 2-5 and try it in mine to see if his works, if so, its obviously the starter.



but yeah, i had voltage at the starter with the key in the ignition position, but wouldnt roll over, so like you say the starter is bad


i just want to narrow down the options to make sure the starter is bad and find that it is something else after i bought a new starter

 

Have you tested the battery yet?