[essarr]

[2001 G20t auto]
So the starter finally gave out last week... That's what I'm assuming until now; have some doubts I was hoping you guys can help me clear up

A few months ago the car wouldn't start right away; just a single click.. It would then turn on after trying a few times.. it required more key turns repeatedly to start over time.. I was relying on the mad key turning method til it fired up until last week it when it just stopped working

I managed to get the starter out, and new hitachi starter is being delivered, waiting for it to arrive

I was curious so I decided to test the old starter to see if it spins, clipped jumper cables to same car battery: black to the starter's casing and just briefly touched red to the bolt that's connected to the thick wire in this picture..

http://i.imgur.com/elFQew3.jpg

It sparks n spinned just fine; doesn't seem to hesitate too bad

Is this normal?
Should I be worried that maybe it wasn't the starter and maybe its the electrical socket or wire somewhere?

If anyone has experience with this, I wanna check anything else before I attempt to put the new one in which should be Friday.. It's freezing outside and everyone knows what kind of pain it is getting the starter in n out!

Appreciate any help
Thanks in advance!

 

[nizzan4u2nv]

Looks like the contacts might have been corroded. It could be different with a resistive load on the motor.

 

[sandplasma]

Dad and myself just did this to my P11. We tested the old starter and it worked fine from an extra battery we had lying around. So we started having doubts about it being the starter as well. Tried to heat it up and see if it would fail with after it was hot but nothing. Not sure if maybe the cable was loose or what but I didn't want to take any chances - we installed the new one and it has worked without fail.

 

[johnsmithson]

[2001 G20t auto]
So the starter finally gave out last week... That's what I'm assuming until now; have some doubts I was hoping you guys can help me clear up

A few months ago the car wouldn't start right away; just a single click.. It would then turn on after trying a few times.. it required more key turns repeatedly to start over time.. I was relying on the mad key turning method til it fired up until last week it when it just stopped working

I managed to get the starter out, and new hitachi starter is being delivered, waiting for it to arrive

I was curious so I decided to test the old starter to see if it spins, clipped jumper cables to same car battery: black to the starter's casing and just briefly touched red to the bolt that's connected to the thick wire in this picture..

http://i.imgur.com/elFQew3.jpg

It sparks n spinned just fine; doesn't seem to hesitate too bad

Is this normal?
Should I be worried that maybe it wasn't the starter and maybe its the electrical socket or wire somewhere?

If anyone has experience with this, I wanna check anything else before I attempt to put the new one in which should be Friday.. It's freezing outside and everyone knows what kind of pain it is getting the starter in n out!

Appreciate any help
Thanks in advance!

I had the same thing happen to me. There was a service bulletin out on the starter addressing some that had dry bushings. They were fixed under warranty. That being said the starter in our 2000 P11 always made a growling noise after it went out of warranty (of course) but always started the car. Recently the starter just would not crank the engine anymore. It would click and turn slowly before completely quitting. After replacing the starter with a rebuilt unit I disassembled the old one and found the brushes totally gone. But....it did pass a bench test before I took it apart. I would say you needed to replace your starter.

 

[johnsmithson]

[2001 G20t auto]
So the starter finally gave out last week... That's what I'm assuming until now; have some doubts I was hoping you guys can help me clear up

A few months ago the car wouldn't start right away; just a single click.. It would then turn on after trying a few times.. it required more key turns repeatedly to start over time.. I was relying on the mad key turning method til it fired up until last week it when it just stopped working

I managed to get the starter out, and new hitachi starter is being delivered, waiting for it to arrive

I was curious so I decided to test the old starter to see if it spins, clipped jumper cables to same car battery: black to the starter's casing and just briefly touched red to the bolt that's connected to the thick wire in this picture..

http://i.imgur.com/elFQew3.jpg

It sparks n spinned just fine; doesn't seem to hesitate too bad

Is this normal?
Should I be worried that maybe it wasn't the starter and maybe its the electrical socket or wire somewhere?

If anyone has experience with this, I wanna check anything else before I attempt to put the new one in which should be Friday.. It's freezing outside and everyone knows what kind of pain it is getting the starter in n out!

Appreciate any help
Thanks in advance!

I had the same thing happen to me. There was a service bulletin out on the starter addressing some that had dry bushings. They were fixed under warranty. That being said the starter in our 2000 P11 always made a growling noise after it went out of warranty (of course) but always started the car. Recently the starter just would not crank the engine anymore. It would click and turn slowly before completely quitting. After replacing the starter with a rebuilt unit I disassembled the old one and found the brushes totally gone. But....it did pass a bench test before I took it apart. I would say you needed to replace your starter.

 

[essarr]

phew! you guys are awesome!
just glad I got some reassurance that I'm not the only one

i'll update on on the weekend after i get the new one

thanks again!

 

[essarr]

DONE!

got the starter today and the car is aliiiiiive!
Thanks again to everyone for the reassurance... especially that one thread describing the starter replacement process in detail.