What can cause a starter to fail?

+1 vote
asked Apr 12, 2019 in Other-Cars/Transportation by Jimbw43 (320 points)
What can cause a starter to fail?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Apr 12, 2019 by Essmann (42,860 points)
Many things can cause a vehicles starter to fail such as old age, low voltage, bad solenoid, too much amperage, bad connections etc.

If a battery is constantly low when you try to crank the starter it can cause starter to overheat and damage it.

A solenoid can also go bad and not engage the starter or the gears could go bad on the starter because the starter motor bolts may come lose and cause misalignment of the starter.

Before you replace the starter make sure the battery in your vehicle is good and fully charged up and that the battery cable connections and the battery connections to the starter and solenoid are good.

Also make sure the grounding is working properly as well because a bad ground can cause starter motor problems.

If all the battery cable connections and the battery is good then your starter solenoid or the starter itself is likely bad and needs replaced.

If the starter solenoid is mounted on the starter itself then it's best to replace the entire starter because you have to in most cases remove the entire starter motor to replace the solenoid.

If the solenoid is mounted under the hood near the battery then replacing that solenoid would be worth it and if you're replacing the starter then you really should replace the solenoid as well.

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