Starter issues, continued....

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brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

Ive been fighting a starting issue that I feel lies solely with the starter/solenoid itself.

On the starter, theres a few posts, and a few male spade connectors. My focus is which wires are connected to which connector.

It would be very helpful if someone could take a picture of those connections.

I have tried swapping wires, I tend to get the same result. I will try and make a video of it if I can recreate it. It sounds like the solenoid wants to engage. It makes a higher pitched hum that trends toward a lower pitch, then the starter kicks in and turns the motor over. Kinda seems like the solenoid might be on its way out. Or is it the configuration of those spade end wires?

A pic would help, the manuals tell you that yes two spade end wires connect to the starter, but it does not describe which one goes where.
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Mike W.
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Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Sonoma County

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by Mike W. »

I had a starter on a parts car that did that one time, kind of a short whirr before it kicked in. Recent Bosch rebuilt tag on it. Ended up putting it on a different car and it was still going strong 175K later when I sold the car without that oddity ever happening again.

On the wiring, as I've mentioned before, all the starters/solenoids don't have the same connections. Ideally there is the large battery cable connection, ok, that one's easy, and a small and large push on connector that attach to different things. If there is a terminal with 2 different prongs on it, only one goes on that terminal. The car will run, just not have as hot a spark while starting if the smaller wire isn't connected, so leave it off and connect the heavy push on and see what happens. If nothing happens, move it. Then put the small one on the other terminal after you get it working.
Mike W.



1980 528i, 3.5 euro, 5 speed conversion
1981 528i, 3.6, Recaros and more. Project
1998 328is, quick and efficient, but not satisfying
2000 528iit, Vacation mobile/wife's grocery getter
brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

Time to find the receipt for this starter I think. I purchased it less than a year ago. After all my jacking around and whatnot, sounds like its time time to find something better.

I will definitely try to test this before pulling it, but I feel the starter being in a partially working state is just yield the same results as before. In the end I believe Ill pull the starter, and report back.

Thanks for the help bud, Ill get this thing dialed in eventually.
brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

Just for reference.

Red wire, large post. Black wire, small post. Car starts, but starter sounds as if its still engaged until removing black wire from post

Black wire, large post. Red wire, small post. Car starts, but runs like its very rich. Idles at an average 300rpm, but also jumps in rpm trying to correct the mixture issue.
brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

Just an update

After having some time off, I was able to pluck the existing starter that had a lifetime warranty and get it replaced

Slapped the new replacement in, no issues at all, starts every time, no whirr, feels good.

So yeah, starter solenoid was on its way out. Tested fine on the bench, but was still the problem.
brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

There will be a final update. There is still an intermittent issue that needs tracking
brotherhay
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:40 am

Re: Starter issues, continued....

Post by brotherhay »

I wish I had a final update, I do not.

after buying and installing a new starter, I felt pretty good about it all, for about a day. After driving around for a bit and doing more work on the car, it would not start again. Played with it some, no success to make it start. I gave it a rest, say 10 minutes or so, and then bingo it fires right up.

Now to try and simplify what I just stated, heres how I can emulate this. Start the car in the morning, or after sitting for 8 hours while at work, and that seems to always work now. But, drive it say 5 miles or so, warm it up and I can pull into any lot, shut the car off and then within seconds attempt to turn it over and it will not start. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and do nothing under the hood and it will start

Gotta be heat, or electrically related. Gonna get back to checking the ground strap and cable to the block for starters and rule out an intermittent ground. After that, Ill take all the advice I can get.
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