How to test if starter is good
#1
How to test if starter is good
Alright so sometimes (not always) my 4runner will decide it doesn't want to start. It hapens about 35% of the time I go to start it. When I go to start it all the lights on the dash are bright and the little buzzer thing is loud. WHen I turn the key there is one individual click and thats it. I tried hitting the starter with a tire iron to try and knock the bristles loose (friends advice) and it worked 1 time, but not the 10 other times this has happened to me. If I get a JUMP from another car, the yota starts up perfectly, but I do not believe the battery is dead because the lights, radio, etc all work great. Basically, how can I test the starter to tell if it works so that I can move on to the next step. I have a multimeter.
#3
Registered User
As a thought, it sounds like your battery terminals are tight enough or have some corrosion built up. Check the terminals for any build-up of white or whitish blue deposits and for tightness. Even if they feel tight, take a wrench to them and snug them up even tighter.
If you have something that looks like salt, put on rubber gloves, eye and breathing protection, and use a solution of baking soda and water to clean them. Coat them with battery terminal goop or something similar.
If it boosts fine, this leads me to believe it's a loose terminal.
If you have something that looks like salt, put on rubber gloves, eye and breathing protection, and use a solution of baking soda and water to clean them. Coat them with battery terminal goop or something similar.
If it boosts fine, this leads me to believe it's a loose terminal.
#5
Here is a simple test you can do:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...shtml#EasyTest
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...shtml#EasyTest
As a thought, it sounds like your battery terminals are tight enough or have some corrosion built up. Check the terminals for any build-up of white or whitish blue deposits and for tightness. Even if they feel tight, take a wrench to them and snug them up even tighter.
If you have something that looks like salt, put on rubber gloves, eye and breathing protection, and use a solution of baking soda and water to clean them. Coat them with battery terminal goop or something similar.
If it boosts fine, this leads me to believe it's a loose terminal.
If you have something that looks like salt, put on rubber gloves, eye and breathing protection, and use a solution of baking soda and water to clean them. Coat them with battery terminal goop or something similar.
If it boosts fine, this leads me to believe it's a loose terminal.
#6
Registered User
It's been my experience that when the lights and everything else works, but all you get is a click from the starter occassionally, it's usually a loose terminal.
Glad that's what it was in your case. It's a cheap, simple fix.
Glad that's what it was in your case. It's a cheap, simple fix.
#7
Contributing Member
If your connections turn out to be good, you can also have a dead spot or bad bus bar on the commutator, the brush contact point of the amature.
This is what it should look like.
This is what it should look like.
Last edited by James Dean; 07-08-2009 at 04:36 PM.
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#8
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i had the same problem i just cleaned the main connector cable on the starter and it would fire right up but now my starter is totally shot so you might need to get a new one in a few months if it continues
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