Hey guys, a couple of nights ago my car shut off on me and all of my lights went off. I wiggled the negative battery cable and the lights came back on so I know I had a loose connection. However, my starter motor is running non stop and the car won't start. The guy at the shop I pushed the car to said looks like something bad in the starter or solenoid. I'll do that myself and the starte is under warranty so the car is being towed to my house. Have you guys ever had this happen. The only way to get the starter to stop is to disconnect the battery cable. When you hook the cable back up it starts running again. Pretty weird.

 

Are your battery cables pos. and neg. frayed at all. Easy to check the cables, run your hand down each cable and also visually inspect them first.


Do the simple fix first.

 

I'll check when the car gets here. The question is, why would the starter continue to run non stop?

 

Faulty connections can wreak havoc on cars. On the other hand it could be the starter.

 

I'm thinking I might have blown the main relay. I don't hear the usual click.

 

Are the dash lights off while the starter is running?


Have you tried disconnecting the ignition switch from the fuse box under the dash ? it could be a bad ignition switch

 

Just had the starter tested and the bendix is bad. It didn't move out or in at all. It's only 3 months old do it's under warranty. Hopefully that's all. The dash lights will still come on like normal. The starter just wouldn't stop running and the car won't start. I'll gave the new starter in the morning so hopefully it will all be good. I went sheds and removed the battery tray for more access and I made sure all if the cables are good. Everything looks fine on that front.

 

Yeah, it's a good time to check and clean everything up with the electrical cables and connections. New ones aren't that expensive.

If the aftermarket starter went bad that quick, ya may want to consider opting for a better brand, IMO.

 

Keep us updated, As 3.2TLc mentioned try a different brand.
What brand did you use?

 

It was a Duralast starter. It was only 4 months old and under warranty so I received my replacement, slapped it in, and the car fired up beautifully. Apparently my solenoid was screwed up so the bendix wasn't moving in or out. The starter motor kept running because it was waiting on the bendix to engage the flywheel. Pretty crazy how much ha ok it wreaked on the car but it was ok because I went ahead and used this opportunity to check all my cables and clean around the battery area.

 

Duralast, hmmm......I'll have to remember not to buy that when my original goes south.