My car wouldn't start the other day. Battery is good. The starter would not even turn over, but I could hear the fuel pump working. Radio also worked. I was able to push start it to get home. When I got home, I shut the engine off and then tried to start the car. The starter worked. Haven't tried it since, though.

1. How do I tell if the starter is going bad? It sounds ok, but maybe I'm not listening for the right kind of sounds.

2. I'll check all the connections and post my findings as well, but what should I check: terminals on starter, what else?

3. Someone told me to tap on the starter with a hammer. Where? What am I trying to do?

4. Is it better to rebuild or replace? How do I tell if a place is any good? Got a recommendation for a local place, but just based on price.

Thanks in advance!

If you must hit it, don't hit the solenoid. The end of it is plastic and will shatter.

Check the ground strap from the trans to underside of trunk. Remove it and clean it and the stud is attaches to.

Might be a "hot" start problem.

Clean grounds and contacts first, then add the Ford solenoid fix.
Then drive and see if the problem is gone or not.

wiring at ignition switch gets old and tired, its a long way to travel for the starter circuit.
Rewire with "hot start relay" that has many threads here how to set that up.

Tranny ground strap gets old and corroded, thus passes less current.
Get a new one and clean where it mounts for good contact.

Finally, the 40 year old starter may be tired.

The rebuilt ones you get now are not reliable.
I always use
Chelmsford Auto Electric in Tyngsboro MA
They will rebuild your unit but be clear to have them do that versus selling you a rebuilt one.

Rich

Could also be the ignition switch itself, Electrical or mechanical portion.

A common problem that causes this is a crack in the ignition switch's plastic housing. It's easy to test the starter if you have this problem again by shorting the right terminals. The "screwdriver trick." If it cranks, then the problem is in the circuit, not the starter.

Step 1: Unplug the solenoid and jumper the large battery lead to the solenoid terminal.

(Be careful when doing this) Make damn sure the car is out of gear and wear some glasses to protect from sparks.

If the car starts normally with the ignition in the on position, it's not the starter.

Sorry Rand. I posted the exact same answer......

Great minds run in the same gutters.

Accepted.

From what I remember there are 4 common problems (or a combination of items)-

1. Bad ground strap from trans to body.

2. Wires from ignition to starter are too corroded and don't supply enough amperage to the starter. Common fix is to start cleaning up connections and install a hot start relay.

3. Bad starter or solenoid.

4. Bad or worn ignition switch

What is the "Ford solenoid fix"?

Just to clarify:

Which battery lead, the + or -?

Which solenoid lead?

I'm not looking at the car, so forgive me if this would be obvious.

BTW, is this how I would "hot wire" the car?

Thanks for the info. I'll check these when I get some time.

What is a hot start relay?

Am I doing this in the engine bay or on the fuses under the dash?

I found it after I posted. Ima dumbass.

Nevermind, I searched and found out all I wanted to about hot start relays.

Under the car at the starter. See photo. Rest a screwdriver on the main power terminal (red arrow) then slide it forward to touch the terminal at the green arrow. You don't need to worry about the ignition switch position because the main terminal is always hot and you aren't trying to start the car, just see if it tries to crank. You'll know in an instant! Of course be sure car is in neutral.

If it won't crank by the ignition switch, but does here, I'd bet a beer the ignition switch is cracked. At any rate, this will instantly narrow things down to the starter vs circuit.

Do this first.

To this I would add a bad connection under the passenger seat where the seat belt interlock on some cars is located

There has been a ton of speculation. Less reading and more testing, please.

Just do the first test and we can move on from there.

Crawl under the car and jumper the starter.

Does the starter work or not?


Electrical problems are solved by observations of logic, not speculation.

Do the test. Report the result. I have a simple list to give you if he starter works via the "screwdriver" test, but this is a massive waste of time if all you need is a new starter.

Joe is giving you the most logical troubleshooting path. That's the way id do it too by jumping the starter first.