How to test Starter? Help plz

[car_boy_16]

Ok I wrote a couple posts in the past about my starting issues and got some ideas and such, but I am still a little confused. I was told by a good member on here to test the starter manually, meaning not with the ignition but by jumping the starter to the battery. What my car was doing was, every now and then I would try to start my car and the car would only click but the starter would not turn over and there was no starter engagement whatsoever. I would lightly bang on the starter and usually that would allow me to start my car, but sometimes I would have to have somebody turn the key while I banged on the starter in order to get the starter to start.

Now, as I said above, somebody on this forum told me that I can test to see if it is infact the starter causing the issues or if it is something else, such as a messed up driveplate or a relay, ect...but I suspect it's my starter.

What I am wondering really is, how to I manually test to see if the problem is my starter alone and not some other component? This is what I did when I had the no-start problem:

I did that when the starter wouldn't turn over, I had the key in the "on" position, but when I put the two terminals together the starter did nothing.

I don't know if I did this right or what...I didn't do anything with the grounds -- I'm pretty clueless with electrical stuff.

Sorry for the long post, but this is my fourth starter and I'm starting to meet half my city cuz I have to ask them for help to 'start my car as I tap on my starter'. It's getting really old and it makes me late for work all the time.

[toyomoho]

You have installed 4 starters, all from the same store?

If starter is out of car, connect plus battery terminal to large terminal bolt, neg terminal to starter frame. Then jump the solenoid terminal on starter to plus battery terminal to operate starter.

Sometimes the electrical contact terminals inside the solenoid wear out of time, the battery cable/terminals corrode or become damaged, defective ignition switch or wiring. Download the service info for this generation of starter from the link below.

http://www.camrymanuals.com/

A few autoparts stores will test starters.

[Doctor J]

If starter solenoid just clicks, attach the test light to the solenoid to starter motor terminal> If no light then the contacts are open.

[car_boy_16]

OK...sorry about not replying quickly, I tried all the suggestions and after I got so pissed off I broke down and brought it to a mechanic guy near my house. He looked at it and in 5 minutes he knew what it was....he seen me tap my starter and watched how I got it to start and agreed that it was the starter, BUT when he did his own testing he found out that it was in fact the ignition! He was a little confused himself as to how I could start my car by tapping on the starter when the problem lies in the ignition.

So what he told me I could do is I could wire the small connector on the starter to an interrupter switch and hook the other wire to the + battery side...so then all I have to do is put the keys in to the "ON" position then just press the button (interrupter switch) and the car starts.... lol it works perfect and the button is fun to push, it almost reminds me of the S2000's start button.

Is this OK or is this not safe to do?



PS, this problem inspired me to learn automotive electronics, so I bought a book on 'How to diagnose and repair automotive electrical systems'

[wiccanferret]

That's a perfectly good solution...I've seen it implemented numerous times.

[toyomoho]

Perhaps there is a wiring issue with the ignition that is close to the starter, taping the starter momentarily fixes the problem. Push button start systems have been used for years on industrial equipment and some vintage cars.

[ozzi]

I have posted a couple times about this ignition harness issue. BUT I cannot find my replies now. They were this year. Probably Jan-May.

There must be a generic cold pin-wire connection issue. I too started by bench testing the starter which performed perfectly.

I checked my meter in the start mode and got battery-to-terminal continuity - battery to the silver spot in the black square in your photo. However, there was not sufficient power to pull the solenoid.

I traced circuits through the ignition switch, the start lockout switch and security alarm. Nothing.

I finally resigned myself to using the temp circuit I described earlier like you are describing. I was told by a Toyota Dealer mechanic that he had to install the same type fix on his grandmother's GEN2 Toyota.

CAUTION - Recognize that this circuit will allow starting the engine IN GEAR, ANY GEAR, including reverse and drive.

[Doctor J]

The starter control circuit on Camry has avoltage drop of 1.4 volts even in the good working car .The solenoid needs 11, not 9 volts like in older starters to operate.Therefore any additional small resistance on the control circuit would cause random no start condition, that we often blame on the starter.
As the car ages the contacts in neutral start or ignition switch are wearing or oxidizing the voltage of 12 v could not push required amps to operate the solenoid.

[car_boy_16]

Originally Posted by Doctor J

The starter control circuit on Camry has avoltage drop of 1.4 volts even in the good working car .The solenoid needs 11, not 9 volts like in older starters to operate.Therefore any additional small resistance on the control circuit would cause random no start condition, that we often blame on the starter.
As the car ages the contacts in neutral start or ignition switch are wearing or oxidizing the voltage of 12 v could not push required amps to operate the solenoid.

I'll have to check into that, Doctor. I've been reading my book and it's teaching me a lot, I can even use a Multimeter now I'm going to do a voltage drop test on it and see what I can find - see where the resistance is. But in the meantime I'm loving my push-button start, it's pretty cool lol