help i am lost
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Guest
help i am lost
okay i know my starter was going out so i figured that was all that needs to be replaced when my car died but then i called the mechanic two of them and they both said it could be a variety of problems since before my battary died completely the car after a few turns would kick over but die as soon as it did.now i am confused and lost can anyone tell me what is wrong with my car??? i know there was a problem with the starter as it woudl making a scratching sound since it was not catching but do i really have soemthing else wrong and do i need to replace the solienoid or just the starter???
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Guest
help i am lost
sorry if i got you all confused okay i will try to explain it to my best.
when i would start the car it would make scratching sounds like if the starter was not catching. well i ignored it even though it would take between four and five turns to get it to catch. the last few days that it was running it was rough and acted like it was going to die on several occasions including when i was making a left turn in the intersection. even when i went to turn out of my driveway it died and i had to put it in reverse and let it roll back. well i went bowling and let my husband take his friend home in the car when he got back to the bowling alley he left the car running and it was only left running for like 30 minutes if that and tehn it died i didnt think anything about it well when i got in to go home and tried to start the car it would not start it would continue to make the scratching sound and i continued for about two hours trying to get it started there would be times that it would start up but then die right away so it would not even stay started. well i called teh mechanic and they had said that it could be flooded or a bunch of other things. can anyone tell me what is really wrong with my car?
when i would start the car it would make scratching sounds like if the starter was not catching. well i ignored it even though it would take between four and five turns to get it to catch. the last few days that it was running it was rough and acted like it was going to die on several occasions including when i was making a left turn in the intersection. even when i went to turn out of my driveway it died and i had to put it in reverse and let it roll back. well i went bowling and let my husband take his friend home in the car when he got back to the bowling alley he left the car running and it was only left running for like 30 minutes if that and tehn it died i didnt think anything about it well when i got in to go home and tried to start the car it would not start it would continue to make the scratching sound and i continued for about two hours trying to get it started there would be times that it would start up but then die right away so it would not even stay started. well i called teh mechanic and they had said that it could be flooded or a bunch of other things. can anyone tell me what is really wrong with my car?
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docrodg
- Registered User
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:09 pm
- Location: California and New York
help i am lost
Well. the starter does sound like it's probably not engaging (solenoid, but just replace the whole unit an ounce of prevention you know). The stalling is another issue entirely. Check your Crank Position Sensor, Ignition System, and the Fuel Delivery. Those are the likely candidates.
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Guest
help i am lost
okay yeah i was told that the starter would not disengage. it wasn't stalling just when i went to make the turn it acted like it wanted to die but it didnt not sure if that what stalling is or not.
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docrodg
- Registered User
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:09 pm
- Location: California and New York
help i am lost
OK, here is what seems to be happening. THe starter is just a big electric motor that spins. Sitting on top of this big can shaped thing is a smaller can (the solenoid) that forces a gear forward to connect the starter motor with the flywheel on the engine, allowing the motor to turn the engine when you move the key to start by applying juice to the motor and the solenoid. When you let go of the key the solenoid then moves that gear outta the way so that the starter is no longer connected to the engine. WHat you describe sounds like two things tend to happen.
When you hear the whining sound but do not get the engine to turn the solenoid is not moving forward. WHen you hear the grinding sound after the car is running and the dang thing stalls it sounds like that would be the solenoid energizing the starter or not moving backward. The engine is then trying to move that big old electric motor too, which causes a stall. Sure sounds like the solenoid is bad, unforunately this could wear the starter motor out and they are normally replaced together anyway. Another thing to consider is that the wiring to the solenoid could be faulty, giving it juice when it shouldn't have any, but the problem could also be in the solenoid itself. Try replacing the starter and see what happens. IF you still have problems then start troubleshooting the rest of the systems.
When you hear the whining sound but do not get the engine to turn the solenoid is not moving forward. WHen you hear the grinding sound after the car is running and the dang thing stalls it sounds like that would be the solenoid energizing the starter or not moving backward. The engine is then trying to move that big old electric motor too, which causes a stall. Sure sounds like the solenoid is bad, unforunately this could wear the starter motor out and they are normally replaced together anyway. Another thing to consider is that the wiring to the solenoid could be faulty, giving it juice when it shouldn't have any, but the problem could also be in the solenoid itself. Try replacing the starter and see what happens. IF you still have problems then start troubleshooting the rest of the systems.