Haven't posted here in awhile, but I suppose that's been a good thing considering my car has been perfect....until this morning.

Woke up to a no start/no crank. Was running late so I took a neighbors car and while I was out, bought a new battery, because I figured that my current wal-mart quality battery from 2015 had bit the dust.

But, I just installed my new battery, and am getting a single click when trying to turn it over.

The car was starting perfectly yesterday, no signs of failure. But, the car is at 240k miles on it's original starter.

I'm now kicking myself for buying a new battery and jumping to that conclusion, but I guess I didn't have the time to properly diagnose it until now.

It's strange. Not even a buzzing or anything when holding the ignition to start. Just one click coming from the engine bay.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated - thanks!

 

ive just had my starter replaced. same symptoms as you but when i tried to start i got a "check starter system" error message. ive read on this forum if you put the car into neutral and crank it then it might start the car. it worked for me. i had the starter replaced the next day

 

Hey, great idea, I didn't even think of checking the codes. I'll also try the neutral trick just for fun. I just ordered a Denso replacement one off rockauto regardless. I'm supposed to go on a roadtrip in 4 days, so I'm glad it happened now and not 300 miles away.

 

At this age, I'd also check the + battery cable as well as it might be corroded internally where you can't see.
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Did the starter fix the issue? I had a similar issue, replaced battery, no luck. Replaced neutral safety switch, still no start, finally replaced starter and has been working since. It is possible that my neutral switch was bad but I burned out my starter solenoid trying to start it so many times.

 

Did you replace the positive battery cable?

 

Didn't try that but it has been a few months with no problems

 

When the positive cable on my TL started failing, it would work well for weeks on end, then quit. If I would wiggle the cable a bit, it would work well again. That's when I changed the cable.

 

no, starter is not gone it's a connection issue. this happens to me from time-to-time.

I take the handle end of a plastic mallet and whack it on the starter several times. it will crank up after that.

I keep a mallet in the trunk with me because you never know when the issue will pop up. taught the wife this trick too so she isn't calling me in a panic.

 

.. that's a pretty telltale indication that it's going bad.. (e.g. brushes worn, etc.) and it's time to replace them.

 

Sorry for ghosting this thread, I hardly get on here anymore. Which i suppose is a good sign lol, things have been smooth recently.

It was indeed the starter. 240k is a hell of a life in my opinion. Battery cables looked good.

Starter was relatively easy to replace, removing the battery tray was the hardest part, there are two hidden bolts that are hard to access. Much easier than the starter I did on the woman's '06 civic a few months ago, that was f***in rage inducing, so I was happy with how straightforward this replacement was.

Immediately put 1k miles on her afterwards with a road trip. Glad it happened a few days before, instead of when we were out of the state!

Also, in other news, my first ever dash crack appeared today on the passenger side. Very sad but i know I was already lucky lasting this long with the original dash being spotless.

 

I couldn't agree more; my positive cable looked perfect last year when I changed it out, but it only worked when it wanted to work.