ThomWV

I'm not mentioning this to predict that the same will happen to your car, but at 224,000 miles, last week, the starter in my CL just self destructed. I got about 5 starts worth of warning before it died completely, it didn't leave me stranded.

Who knows what conditions the previous bevy of owners used the car under, it could have been started and stopped ever 10 miles for all I know, all I'm saying is the milage at which mine took a dump.

From the sound it was making as it was on its way out and from how it felt when I tried to spin the drive gear after it was out of the car I'd guess that whatever it used for bearing came apart or maybe some sort of internal brushes or something finally wore out. The shaft had a noticeable wobble to it even though the gear still spun, albeit with some noticeable crunchiness. I marked the gear teeth with a magic marker and then turned the engine over by hand checking the teeth. They were all just fine.

Replacement was easy even on a cold day. I removed the battery, which is necessary, and then took out the battery tray, which probably wasn't necessary. There are two wires and two bolts, its a 20 minute job. The replacement starter, a rebuilt unit from Advance Auto, cost me $115 with a twenty dollar core. No big deal.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

That sucks that it went, but at least it didnt leave you stranded and it was an easy fix.

typeR

interestingly ... i thought mine was gone a while back ...one day all i got was clicks like when a battery is dead ... replace the battery worked ... then showed up again... someone suggested and i had heard that it was bad but to tap it with a hammer ... i did this ... it started... later i found a stray screw stuck to it magnetized not sure if this had any bearing ... later by shear chance i noticed if when it clicked i turned the key rapidly i could get it to start ...timing was the key here (with the rapid turning of the key ) anyway it slowly went away and would just start normal ... once in a blue moon itd click rapid key starts ... months went by only doing it once or twice ... now its been years ... hmmm starts first time everytime

ThomWV

Interesting comments on the clicks. Usually when it just clicks I presume the battery is low and unable to provide the juice necessary to actually turn the engine over even through there is enough power available to engage the starter via what used to be called the "bendix drive". In your case it sounds a lot more like a dirty contact either in the solenoid or key switch.

When mine first gave notice that it was on the way out I was in front of the house getting ready to go out. My son (grown) had used the car that day and was carrying Christmas presents from the trunk when I hit the key, so it wasn't just me that heard it. What happened was the starter engaged and the engine spun for about a half a second and then there was a horrible noise of metal being ground off metal. I let off the key and tried again. It did it again but the engine started. I went on about my business but did not shut the engine off until I got back home. Once home I shut it off and tried to start it. Clank ... nothing. Next morning, at just below freezing temperature, I came out and tried again. It started right up, no problem. So I let it warm up and then killed it and tried to start it again, but hot this time. When it was hot I got a little grinding noise but it started. I let it cool down for about 15 minutes to get it to about the same temperature as the night before. With it at an intermediate temperature it made horrible noises at the first key turn and the starter locked up solid at the second turn of the key. However after I let it cool off for about an hour it started - with noise this time. I kept it running and drove to the auto parts store. The problem has isolated itself to the starter.

silvervtec96

My solenoid wire was lose and caused mine to sound terrible when cranking, or just not crank at all, ordered a new one and found out it was the wire, so when ever it sounds a little strange with startin, i push the wire back on and all good!