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Starter Tips


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Hello,

Im having issues with my starter. Recently purchased a 260Z 2+2 and its an automatic. took her for a drive yesterday, after the first stop went to start her up and only got the good ole clicking sound. Figured the old starter was going. I jumped the sylenoid and she kicked right over. Came home bought a new starter from autozone. Installed it and it fired right up first go around. Kicked it off then went to start with the new starter again and it was freely spinning. Pulled the starter out and manual by hand pulled the starter gear out then re-installed. It worked once more and that was it and now spins freely. Do you think I could have a faulty reman starter? Shuld i ditch autozone and go to pep boys? Oriely's? 

 

Thanks! 

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Really sounds like a faulty rebuild. When mine went out I got a rebuilt one, it died after a week. Took it back and they handed me a new one, they put it on their machine and it popped a fuse trying to get the motor to kick out and engage. The new one worked fine. Just a gamble you end up taking, it is either that or learn to rebuild them yourself or take it to a starter rebuild specialist. 

 

Unfortunately short of getting one NOS or from a japanese manufacturer you are going to have to deal with rebuilt options. Sometimes you get a couple duds in a row.

 

Unless you enjoy the quirkiness of having a car that doesn't start all the time, fix it. The starting circuit for the starter motor is pretty simple to diagnose. 

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Really sounds like a faulty rebuild. When mine went out I got a rebuilt one, it died after a week. Took it back and they handed me a new one, they put it on their machine and it popped a fuse trying to get the motor to kick out and engage. The new one worked fine. Just a gamble you end up taking, it is either that or learn to rebuild them yourself or take it to a starter rebuild specialist. 

 

Unfortunately short of getting one NOS or from a japanese manufacturer you are going to have to deal with rebuilt options. Sometimes you get a couple duds in a row.

 

Unless you enjoy the quirkiness of having a car that doesn't start all the time, fix it. The starting circuit for the starter motor is pretty simple to diagnose. 

Could be. when I jump the terminal it works great. fires right up. I read the voltage coming from the solenoid pos. wire and it reads .3v . I may be leaning towards a faulty ignition switch now but am yet to diagnose if the switch is sending 12v as I dont know which wire to read. 

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Steps I have taken:

Unplugged all Interlock systems - still did not start

Installed the relay to starter DIY - still did not start

 

Then:

 

 It looks like the old owner used an old relay like other bypasses done. I have since removed this relay for the time being and am running the wire directly out of the main harness. This is a yellow wire that looks to be the perfect length to hook up to the starter solenoid. I presume this wire is the positive coming from the ignition switch. I have checked each lead coming out of the ignition switch connector and verified to be working. I then proceeded to hook up the yellow wire described earlier to the starter. It seems the original wire color should be black and yellow as there is no interruption in between the ignition switch and this wire. Im going to poke and prod some more form the ignition switch and find if the previous owner did some DIY wiring... 

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The 260Z (and perhaps the 280Z) has a lot connections in the circuit path between the battery and the solenoid. The issue is the voltage drop in the circuit gets too high over time and eventually the solenoid will not pull-in reliably. I had to install the "relay mod" on one I had a while ago. i don't know how you did yours but I ran power from the battery cable on the solenoid through a fuse and relay to the solenoid pull-in terminal. It works well. Pulling power from any other circuit could result in the same problem for the same reason, voltage drop across the connections along the way.

 

If the starter motor spins without turning the engine you have a bad over-run clutch (the Bendix as the old timers call it) in the starter. This is unrelated to any wiring issues you may happen to have.

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The 260Z (and perhaps the 280Z) has a lot connections in the circuit path between the battery and the solenoid. The issue is the voltage drop in the circuit gets too high over time and eventually the solenoid will not pull-in reliably. I had to install the "relay mod" on one I had a while ago. i don't know how you did yours but I ran power from the battery cable on the solenoid through a fuse and relay to the solenoid pull-in terminal. It works well. Pulling power from any other circuit could result in the same problem for the same reason, voltage drop across the connections along the way.

 

If the starter motor spins without turning the engine you have a bad over-run clutch (the Bendix as the old timers call it) in the starter. This is unrelated to any wiring issues you may happen to have.

Hey beerman pete. 

 

Few notes, I did install the relay mod. the problem is, the switched power line in im using does not have enough voltage. its sitting at .3v when ignition is turned to start then drop back down when not engaged. Is there a point at which the ignition line to the solenoid is interrupted at all? my reason for this question is I have read the voltage coming from the ignition switch to be 12.6V and read the voltage of the spade connector to be the .3V. Somewhere in between I am having an issue. I may end up running a new wire from the starter switch to the solenoid and see if this fixes my issue. 

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Ok, Got her started up! 

 

Te reason I was not seeing 12v at the spade terminal? CORRODED AND UGLY TERMINAL! I replaced the terminal went start her up, NOTHING. then I popped her into neutral (automatic 3-speed) back into park and she kicked right over. Looks like I need to replace the neutral safety relay now haha! 

 

I am documenting everything I did for those that are new to a classic car like me and may experience these issues. 

Edited by DonH
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