So I burnt up my starter and got a new, (well "new" rebuilt one) from the dealer and installed it and the car started up as soon as I nicked the key!!!

But I backed it out of the driveway and stop to close the garage and than I heard a click or popping noise... So I killed the car just to be safe... Had enough bad luck, or so I thought!

Now I go to restart it after checking for andthing loose or smoking under the hood and I've got nothing! It just click's.... The battery is fully charged, the lead's going from the battery terminal's to the front where the positive jumpstart are good and have power...

Could I have a short somewhere and my brand new starter is now fried after 15 minutes???

I read one thread that said something about Battery Terminal Meltdown where the car senses something is wrong and shut's down power to the starter but still have power everywhere else... Anybody have any idea's???

_Bamm

 

Well, the starter itself is probably not fried, but the internal solenoid may have failed. If you're getting a clicking when you try to start the car, but the starter doesn't turn over, and you've got good battery voltage (at least 12.5V), then it's probably the solenoid.

Note - I'm serious about the "at least 12.5V" part. Even though we commonly call our car batteries "12-volt batteries", a battery with a no-load voltage reading of 12.0V is actually over 75% discharged! At 11.9V, it's almost completely discharged.

With a lead-acid battery, a fully-charged battery will have a no-load voltage of 12.6 volts or so.

 

Well without having to pull the starter again... which sucks on my car... is there anyway of knowing if it's bad? Could it be shorting out somewhere maybe??? I jacked it up and looked to see if the copper wire running from the starter to the solonoid is black at all like it was on my last starter and it look's perfect!!!

 

Looking at a picture of the starter, it appears that the solenoid is integral to the starter, so I don't know of a way to test the solenoid separately. And if you hear the solenoid clicking when you try to start the car, it sounds as if voltage is making it at least to the input of the solenoid.

The starter/solenoid assembly should be grounded through the engine block, so that shouldn't be an issue. I would check the engine ground strap on the passenger-side of the engine, though, just to make sure it's tight.

 

Yea it's on... tight...
Guess I gotta pull the starter again and have it checked out...
And have someone look at the car for electrical problem's...

 

Alright pulled the turbo... Pulled the header... Pulled the starter...

VERDICT???

Brand new $300 starter burnt up... It kick's, but dosn't engage...
So there is something wrong on my car that is burning the starter out... any idea what that could be???

 

Man, I'm torn. On the one hand, losing two starters on such a low-mileage car is unlikely, but on the other hand, losing the first one might have been a fluke, and it's not uncommon for re-built starters to be complete pieces of crap. I've taken some off the shelf that had dirt and grease still packed in them from their previous life. In those cases, it was pretty obvious that the "rebuilt" involved a rattle-can of spray paint.

The only thing I can think of that would repeatedly kill good starters would be some kind of misalignment between the starter nose gear and the toothed ring on the engine. Anyone else with suggestions?

 

Well the starter I bought was directly from the dealer!!!
They said it was a reman'd one but this thing look's BRAND NEW!!!
I dout they're gonna take it back if I tell 'em it was bad.........

Anyone else with this problem???!!!

 

turbo? what kind of car do you got???

anyways i have replaced damaged parts with brand new parts fromt he box and gotten problems with said "new" parts.

is npt really uncommon for that to happen. maybe whoever rebuild it did it wrong and shipped it anyways.

good luck!

 

I have an '03 R53...

Well you'd think gettin' one from the dealer would be different! I'm gonna take it back in and see what they have to say! I'm not gonna take $300 and just flush it...

 

how come you got a turbo?
you got pics?

 

Yea in my galleria...

Cause the sc dosnt have any ***** at top end and I like watching jaw's drop when someone ask's me "Why" I drive a Mini, and I pop the hood...

:impatient

 

Alright well a local eletrical shop told me the olny thing they can think of is the starter is kicking out and getting stuck and stay's hot and that's burning it out obviously!!! Question... I've heard when you replace the starter you may need to shim it, even tho the stock starter did not come shimmed... Anybody else heard this???

 

I had an ignition switch that stuck in the start position on a Toyota once. It fried a couple of starters before I figured out what was happening. I doubt you need to shim it. That was necessary sometimes on GM V8s but shouldn't be an issue with a Mini.

 

Make sure you have a good ground connection, you can cause havoc with a loose ground........but it sounds to me like it's just a bad starter.

 

When you apply power to the starter, the small toothed wheel in the "snout" extends outward and engages the flywheel, so it can turn the motor over. Sometimes, if everything's not aligned correctly, the nose gear will fail to retract after the engine has started, so rather than the starter turning the engine, the engine is now turning the starter, which is *very* hard on the starter. The shimming is to correct any misalignment between the starter nose gear and the flywheel.

Fortunately, any misalignment should be pretty obvious from the wear pattern on the starter nose gear teeth and the flywheel teeth, so the shop should be able to tell if that's the problem, or if you just happened to get a bum replacement starter.

 

Well it sound's to me like it was a bad starter than because the ground strap was on... every wire going to the starter was correct and tight... and if the starter would have stayed engaged, wouldn't it have burned up quicker than 15min??? Because I started and shut the car off 6 different times and idled from 5-15min... Checked the battery cables, still hot... But with the starter out off the car it still smell's burnt...

 

Alright got a BRAND NEW starter from the dealer... put it in... and drove it around the block last night after letting it warm up...
Than when I got home I let it cool off and tried to start it again and the starter is sticking! So when you turn the key to start it the bendix dosn't kick back, it stay's logded in the flywheel... And I called the dealer just to double check and they told me the starter does NOT get shimmed if it is a factory starter from them which it is! The manager and a few tech guy's talked to me and they came to the conclusion the only reason it would stick is if my flywheel is damaged... HOW THE ****** can my flywheel be damaged... Can any other Mini Gurro confirm I don't need to shim the starter...?!!?
I have dealt with muscle car's before and brand new starter's needed to be shimmed... when they stick you can loosen the bolts and lift up on it and actually hear it pop back in... Not as easy to do on a Mini tho...

Anyone???

 

Well, it does sound like you've got a misalignment problem..........

 

could it be a bad ignition and it's not telling the starter to dis-engage?

 

I did PM you about this matter but would like to know what was causing your problem. I am in the same boat right now and bought a new starter which is not dis-engageing. My first starter went bad after a loud POP as well just like yours so I am stuck in the same boat as you were. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Sounds like a bad starter. I've actually worked on a car once where I put 3 "new" starters in it and all were bad, 4th one worked though.

If it wasn't disengaging and still engaged on the flywheel you would know, it makes a noise.

Btw theres no shim's on the starter.

 

Alright bro here was the Verdict with my starter... after it popped... i installed it wrong... whoops... haha

The first thing you need to check it the wiring, make sure you have both the wires going to the left post on the starter, none to the ground strap and the little wire which is the ignition wire, to he little stud on top....

Try that and let me know.... We'll start with the obvious, haha