How to Determine if a Car Starter Motor is Faulty?
3 Answers
Determine whether the car starter motor is faulty based on the following conditions: 1. Check if the battery power is sufficient: When starting the engine, sometimes the starter motor can turn and start the engine, while other times it does not turn. When the starter motor does not turn, its electromagnetic switch makes a clicking "tick, tick" sound. 2. Check if the starter motor connections are intact: When starting the engine, sometimes the starter motor can turn and start the engine, while other times it does not turn. When the starter motor does not turn, its electromagnetic switch makes a clicking "tick, tick" sound. However, the obvious symptom is that when starting the engine, the electromagnetic switch repeatedly engages and disengages, frequently acting.
Last time, Master Wang at the repair shop taught me a few tricks: First, if the starter motor makes a 'click-click' sound when you try to start the car, it means the solenoid coil is acting up—just whining but not doing any work. Second, listen for a whirring sound of free-spinning, which most likely means the starter drive gear teeth are worn out. Third, if there's no response at all, try short-circuiting the two large copper terminals on the electromagnetic switch with a screwdriver—if it turns, then the switch is on strike. He also reminded me that in winter, if the car struggles weakly to start, check if the battery terminals have grown green corrosion. Old cars are most prone to the issue of the starter gear getting stuck. I remember one time my van just wouldn't start no matter what, and after taking it apart, I found the pinion gear was tightly locked with the flywheel—it took a couple of solid hammer blows to loosen it up.
Last month, my old Passat threw a tantrum - turning the key was like dealing with a corpse. The mechanic popped the hood, had me sit inside to crank it while he gave the starter motor a solid 'clang' with an iron rod. Boom, fired right up! Turns out the worn carbon brushes caused poor contact, and vibration provided an emergency fix. Later, replacing the entire brush assembly cost just 200 yuan - way cheaper than swapping the whole starter. Now I listen carefully during cold starts; any 'screeching' friction noise likely means the starter bearings have collapsed. My neighbor Aunt Zhang's car had an even wilder episode - a bolt suddenly shot out from under the car during startup. Turned out to be a fractured starter mounting bolt shaken loose by vibration.
