jmhjgh

My 2004 with 142K is in an independent shop for replacement of the oil cooler nipple that had been leaking. During the service, the battery was disconnected for several hours. The mechanic said it started up after the service to check for leaks, and now it no longer will crank. My car has always had the intermittent turn the key and hear the starter solenoid click, and then have to turn the key a 2nd time to crank and start. Now, all we can get is the solenoid click. The battery is good, and you can feel both starter relays in the passenger foot well energize. It is possible that the starter just happened to fail at the same time, and the next step is probably to pull the starter and bench check the operation. It just seems like something else could be causing it. I stopped in today with my Ross-Tech cable and looked at codes, and was having intermittent connecting trouble with the ABS/Brake controller (the battery was run down, and is back on a charger), and I am not sure if that is related. The battery is ~6-8 months old and should be good. Any ideas on what to check? Thanks, Jeff

Mister Bally

One person beats on the starter with a hammer while the other presses the start button or turns the key. Also,asure voltage at starter primary wire and use the case for ground, then verify the solenoid wire provides voltage. If so, make sure output from solenoid to starter motor provides voltage to verify the starter being good or bad. Keep in mind there could be a security system glitch. That requires dealer intervention.

jmhjgh

We tried the hammer trick thinking it was a dead spot on the starter. You can't really get at the wires on the starter to check voltage, which is why I was looking at the 2 starter relays. How can you tell if it is a security issue? I thought with an immobilizer the car started then killed after a few seconds?

mishar

It could be battery. Have they connected it properly? There is a tin red wire on the plus pole that has to be connected.

jmhjgh

I can check the battery connection, but they should not have disconnected the small red wire.

s4master1

Have they checked the ground wire from the chassis to the engine block?

jmhjgh

Where is the ground wire on the engine block?

jmhjgh

Turned out to be the starter. Existing starter still spun on the bench, but very slowly like the bearings were on there way out.