As the topic says. I had an issue today where I parked my car at a store, go out to start it, and everything works but the starter won't make a sound. I didn't really have any tools or a multimeter on me, so there wasn't much of a chance to troubleshoot it. I jiggled the wires under the dash, jiggled them under the hood, hit the steering column a few times and nothing. Eventually i found the location of the starter and shorted the battery power wire to the ignition wire to get it to crank over and start.
Now that I have it home I'm looking for some advice. It's a 1981. I'm having problems finding decent electrical schematics for it, but I can I do have electrical troubleshooting ability. Before I have to dismantle the car to trace wires are there any electrical components I should be focusing on in this situation?
Usual Suspects for Starter Not Cranking
Moderators: GRNSHRK, ron, bfons
Re: Usual Suspects for Starter Not Cranking
I am not an expert, but if your other electrical components were working and you were able to short out and force the starter to turn over enough to get the car started, then I'd say your battery is fine and the issue is in the starter solenoid. Not sure how, or if, you can refurbish at home, but you might find a shop local to you that could rebuild it or just replace the starter.
Hope you get it square soon,
Eric
Hope you get it square soon,
Eric
'85 M635, '00 528iT, '98 Z3
Re: Usual Suspects for Starter Not Cranking
Thanks for the feedback ericono, but I "jumped" the battery power directly to the ignition wire on the solenoid and it activated. That means the solenoid is fine, but something is restricting that ignition wire from going hot.
Re: Usual Suspects for Starter Not Cranking
Had a similar problem that ended up not being the starter. Although, my car had intermittent times when the starter didn't crank. Have you tried starting it again, or is it 100% not cranking?
1985 635CSi M Euro M88
Re: Usual Suspects for Starter Not Cranking
I got it solved. The disconnect for the ignition wire on the starter (black and yellow wire I think) fell off the spade connector.
I was going to troubleshoot it from the starter back to the key, or the key to the starter and I'm glad I started (pun intended) from the starter side since I didn't even need a meter, just a visual.
I was going to troubleshoot it from the starter back to the key, or the key to the starter and I'm glad I started (pun intended) from the starter side since I didn't even need a meter, just a visual.