Chuck, before you start pulling the starter, try this..... Get a long peice of wire. Attach one end to the starter solenoid (where the low current actuator wire comes from the ignition) I crimped on a spade connector to make it easy to attach to the starter solenoid, then dab the other end on the positive battery terminal to see if the starter engages then (check for neutral first !). I wasted days chasing a similar problem (click, click, no spin) and it was caused by a wiring fault (crap aftermarket alarm) where I wasn't getting sufficient current to the solenoid to fully engage it. They seem sensive to that. Just because you see 12V there doesn't mean there is sufficient current to fully actuate the solenoid.
Simon. On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 6:10 AM, Chuck <[email protected]>wrote: > Update: > a little gentle persuasion with a big wrench and some MMO in the cylinders > has done the trick. The engine spins freely now. It wasn't stuck very bad > - the real problem seems to be the starter. I'm assuming it's rusted in > place, because the drive gear doesn't seem to budge when you hit the key. I > don't have it out of the car yet, so I'm going by how it sounds. A few > whacks with a hammer didn't make any difference. Tonight I'll take it out > and see what I can do with it... or replace it. > BTW - I hate crawling under a car on jack stands... wish there was another > way to get those $%^#$% starter bolts out. My neighbor was crushed to death > under his truck about 2 months ago, so I'm very wary of getting under 2000# > of steel. I'm going to stack up some cinder blocks under the chassis "just > in case", but I still hate crawling under there. Anybody want to come to > Indiana and do this for me? ;) > -Chuck > > > > > > [email protected] wrote: > > Okay, you had no big wrench, but you couldn't get, what, the CRANK > pulley to turn? How did you try to turn the engine by hand? What did you > do? This is important. > > In a message dated 7/10/2010 6:37:36 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > > Hey guys, > After almost 3 years off the road, I'm finally trying to get my 97 FM2 > running again. I took it apart to replace the wiring harness and ended up > doing suspension, cooling system and brakes too. I'm getting close to > having it back together, and went to start it today... and got nothing. I > haven't done a lot of trouble shooting yet, and thought I'd come here for > ideas first. > > The Link boots up and I get all the dashboard lights. Fuel pump runs. > When I turn the key to start, the engine will not spin, the tach goes to > 2500 and there's a buzzing under the hood that sounds like a jammed electric > motor. I do not hear anything like a starter engaging.... just the > buzzing. Then the Link screen goes to all black bars and appears to > reboot. The battery has a decent charge, and I've also tried with a charger > hooked up for extra boost. > > So... I pulled the plugs and #3 was really rusty, with a rust spot on top > of the piston. I have no idea what leaked... but something did. I didn't > have my big wrench handy, but with the plugs out I could not get the engine > to turn by hand. > > Considering the car has been in pieces for so long, it makes trouble > shooting a little harder. Any ideas on what I should be looking at first? > If the engine is seized up, what's the best way to break it loose? I double > checked the wiring harness compatibility when I swapped it 2 years ago, so > everything should be good there, but I'm not certain that it's not part of > the problem. > thanks! > -Chuck > > > _______________________________________________ > Miatapower mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower > > > _______________________________________________ > Miatapower mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower > >
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