Testing a starter motor

[paulw106]

Hi Guys,

I finally managed to get my old starter which has been playing up intermittently off the car this weekend as it appeared to have finally given up the ghost totally and would not even engage the solenoid, however once I got it off the car and tested it by wiring it straight to the battery , it works perfectly i.e. solenoid engages the gear and the motor spins up, I can't see any noticeable play in the gear and there are no unusual noises when the starter is spinning, my question is this, is this a valid test for the starter or would a starter that engages and spins up without issue off the car still be suspect if I put it back on?

Secondly, is the starter circuit fused as all, I had a look in the manual I bought but couldn't see any reference to a fuse in the starter circuit.

Cheers,

Paul

[divace73]

more than likely your starter is okay and no there isn't a fuse.
Do a search on the brown wire fix and also check the actuall voltage that the starter moter gets. With age all the connections especially the ignition switch start to build a resistance so your starter may end up with much less that 12V.

[paulw106]

more than likely your starter is okay and no there isn't a fuse.
Do a search on the brown wire fix and also check the actuall voltage that the starter moter gets. With age all the connections especially the ignition switch start to build a resistance so your starter may end up with much less that 12V.

Thanks David,

I will check that out this weekend, is there anything in the starter circuit that would cause it to suddenly stop working all together, it's been a bit flaky up till now but this weekend it wouldn't even engage the solenoid where as previously it has just been slow to turn over (and I know it's not the battery as I've just put a new one on and had fully charged it)

Cheers,

Paul

[courtenay]

Check out this thread...http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 617#p76617