Yesterday afternoon my 2004 TL Automatic refused to start, just a click no turn. Battery was fine. While waiting for tow, I checked under the hood, moved the transmission to from park to N etc and tried to start. After 20 min, I tried it again and it started. I got it home then tried to start it again after I parked. No go, just a click. I tried it with the headlights on and the lights do not even dim when I try to start. Giggled battery cables and wires to starter, no go but after a few tries it started and was able to do it 3 times. This morning I tried it again, no go. So 1) Removed the battery 2) cleaned posts and terminals and clamps 3) tighten (it was not loose) the starter nut connection and pulled and pushed back in the S terminal. I reinstalled the battery and made sure all connections were tight. It has been starting several times. I plan to have it sit for a few hours and try it again. When the starter turns, it turns without problems, just like it was new. It never showed any issues turning. I'm not sure if I fixed the problem and if I need to replace the starter. I hate to replace it if I do not need to. My concern is that my wife drives the car too.

From your experience, Do you think the starter is really going bad or I just had and intermittent weak electrical connection which was fixed with re-tightening?

I have 120K miles on it.

 

it could be starter.

 

I say it was the terminal heads.. I was having that issue about 20k miles ago.. I cut the negative terminal head and replaced it and haven't touched it since...

 

The battery posts and terminal head/clamps were clean, although I wire brushed them and re-installed it tight. Since I tightened the connector nut and the spade connector on the starter, I'm not sure which one fixed it. So far, I restarted the car 5 times spread out through the day and it is still good. I'm hoping this is it..

 

Day 2, it started fine this morning, drove to work and left for lunch and it starts like a champ. I guess it was all electrical connections.

 

If it hangs again.. use a breaker bar / crow bar and smack the starter housing.. if it kicks after.. it's the starter.

 

Sounds like the starter. I had mine go out in Vegas during the summer. I'd go ahead and buy a replacement if I were you.

 

do what i did if it doesnt start. wack the crap outta the starter solenoid

 

sounds like the starter, although mine went suddenly, started fine, drove it to the store one hour later, nothing...

 

You don't hit the solenoid.

You hit the case of the armature to knock out the carbon fouling.

 

Is his issue heat related by chance? Back in the day when people came to me with starting issues on the GNs and they would just click and do nothing once hot even after replacing the starter my first question was has the engine been rebuilt and did you reinstall the heat shield over the solenoid. The answer was almost always no and that was the problem (the exhaust runs right by the starter).

It can still be the starter and as it ages it becomes more sensitive to high heat, just wondering for my own info if it's worse when it's hot or has been heat soaking for a while.

It's not that often the actual starter motor goes out, it hardly gets used. It's usually not that hard to rebuild and it's usually very cheap. Think about an electric motor that only spins a few revolutions or a motor that only spins for a second or two 2-3 times a day, the "mileage" on the motor iteself is very low. Maybe Majofo can shed some light on the rebuild of this particular starter.

 

I have this poor man's rebuild thread I have been lazy to post. It actually worked for me for about 6 months without an issue. I finally changed it out because it was acting up again and saw a super deal on a new starter without core exchange.