To get right to the point, my car won't start. All the starter does is click. I took the starter out to get tested and it's fine. I have 12 volts at my starter and battery. I tried another battery for the heck of it but nothing. I don't have any codes and all fuses are good. Any ideas? Are the starter relays under the steering wheel? When I try to start the car they click a few times really fast. Is this normal? Thanks!

 

When this happened on my former 86,A new starter fixed it.
Sometimes its a bad solenoid on the starter too.

I had starters that would click and not turn the engine over,but test fine on a bench test with 12 volts applied.Theres no engine load the starter has to turn over during them tests so that can be why its showing up fine during test,but wont crank the engine over in the car.

This is just one suggestion...im sure some others will post here.
Since the battery is good and you swapped to be sure,it has to be the starter.That being said,whats clicking,the starter or the relay,do you know for sure?

 

i'd put money on the starter

i have had several do the same thing on old vauxhall carltons and my old lotus carlton aswell

 

Thanks for the reply. I had someone try and start the car with me under so I heard the starter clicking. I can also hear the relay clicking when I'm under the dash. I guess Ill try a new starter.

 

You may want to check your battery cables as well.

Showing 12 volts and passing the required amperage to spin the starter are not necessarily the same thing.

I had a Chevy van that had an intermittant start problem (it would also just "click". I replaced the battery and 2 starters before I checked the cable. That was it.

 

Well I got a new starter and its doing a similair thing. Instead of clicking once its clicking a few times. Also now after I try and start it my dash lights dim, and I get a clicking in the passengers side dash. I sanded down both battery connections, but still no luck. Help!!!

 

I was reading through previous threads and found out that the clicking in the passengers side dash is cause from a relay that drops out and kicks in at low battery voltage. Does anyone know what that means exactly?

Is there anyway to run a cable from the battery to the starter and see if the car turns over instead of clicking? Or bypass the relays?

 

I had a similar issue with my 90. The 12v ign source (small red wire to the starter) was only providing about 10v and did not energize the solenoid completely. There is a relay that did not completely close. I gave up and added another 12 wire from the ignition switch to the clutch safety switch and now I have 12v going to the solenoid and it starts everytime. If you want to spend hours taking the dash apart searching for the relay, ok, I decided my way works just as well. Good luck, Mstrs 2

 

You can hot wire the starter under the car with jumper cables and verify if the starter turns over, then you know the 12 ign wire is your problem. Mstrs2

 

Good luck too.

 

Thanks for your reply! Do you mean just run jumper cables from the battery to the starter?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I problably am because I dont know much about the electronics in cars) but isn't the relay right under the driver side dash? I know where my clutch safety switch is, but how do I know which wire to splice another 12v to? Do I need to take apart the column to get at it? I know which wire your talking about when looking at the starter, but once I'm under the dash its a mess. Thanks for your help!

 

Yes, or you can cross over the solenoid big cable lug to ground with a screw driver and it should turn over. Again, indicating little voltage to the small red wire. Have a helper turn the ignition sw on and read the voltage from the small lug it srews to. Be careful not to have it in gear or anything in the way in case it turns over. My guess is about 9 - 10V will be your reading.

 

Thanks! I'll give that a try tomorrow!

 

What year is your car ? There may be 2 relays that work that circuit, I checked my relay and it was good, but think another was bad under the pax side, I decided it was too much trouble.
You will need to drop your column to get to the top part of the ignition swith to add the wire on the pin that gets energized when you turn the starter switch and the slide engages. Then run your jumper wire to the non connected side of the clutch micro switch so it only gets power when the clutch is pressed in. Hope this helps, If you can drop the driver side under dash pads and change the relay first try that. Be sure the wiring diagram for your car shows you where the correct relay is.

 

My cars a 90. I checked in the FSM and it shows only one relay under the drivers side dash. I tried a new relay but it didn't help. My clutch safety switch is bad so I bypassed it. Would this pose a problem by providing 12v all the time?

 

Measure the battery voltage when someone hits crank position, it should not fall below 9.0 volts or you have a discharged battery, poor cable connections, or the battery is at the end of its life. You can tell the state of charge in the battery by measuring the no load battery voltage. 12.0 volts and below, discharged. 12.9 volts and above, fully charged and linear in between. Charge the battery up with a battery charger if it measures discharged. If you jump 12v to the jumper you have on the clutch safety switch, you force the starter solenoid closed and the starter should crank. If you use a large screwdriver on the large post on the starter to ground like DBall says, you will short the battery to ground, DO NOT do that. I think what he meant to tell you is to jump between the large wire on the starter to the red solenoid wire which forces the starter solenoid to close making the starter crank.
That you have the starter solenoid click says that your ignition and VATS circuit are working normally, what is happening is the battery is not supplying adequite starting current, either due to the battery, cable connections, or the quality of the cable connections at the starter (positive) and at the frame ground (negative). You can determine if you have a cable problem by measuring from the neg battery terminal to the frame while someone hits crank. The voltmeter should not read over 1 volt. Measure the voltage from the battery positive terminal to the large bolt on the starter while attempting a crank, same thing, no more than 1 volt should be read.

 

Thanks! I'll give that a try later on.

 

Well I did as you said and it showed 3v. I also jumpered from the big terminal on the starter to the little terminal but all I got was a click. Any more ideas? Is there anyway to engage the starter straight from a 12v source outside of the car? I must have a big problem here and would love to get the car started so I can drive it to a shop to get looked at.

 

Jimmers,
Based on the above, I would say you have a bad ground connection or positive connection at the terminals on the battery. My guess is corrosion on the ring connectors. Either, that or at the frame. Take them apart and check for any corrsion and clean them. You said another battery did not work, did you actually jump from the spare battery directly to the starter ? You could determine if it is a starter , battery or cabling problem. DB