Starter problem, with pics and video! Also, mystery wire.

[mkoch]

My starter will turn over the engine about 70% of times I try to start the car.

 

30% of the time, I can hear the starter solenoid click, but the motor doesn't turn.

 

The brushes look good. I wonder why there are gouges on the armature.

 

 

*click on the above image to see the video*

 

This is a video of my testing the starter, by applying electrical current to the positive battery terminal, and the ignition wire terminal. The solenoid will move out, but the motor doesn't turn it some of the time.

 

 

*click on the above image to see the video*

 

This video features a mystery wire coming off the Positive Battery Terminal on the starter. The starter will operate with or without the mystery wire attached. Is this OEM wiring?

 

Thanks for any answers!

[NorthWet]

That starter armature is ruined. I imagine the field coils are equally damaged. We could look and listen and suggest, but in the end that starter will need to be replaced.

 

To the best of my knowledge, there is no OEM wire that should be coming off of the positive battery cable at the starter stud.

[Gloyale]

Someone wanted to tap into Battery power and did it there at the starter, rather than at the battery. Bad thing is that at least the red wire doesn't have a fuse on it.

[MilesFox]

broken magnets. sticky starter is cured with beating of hammer. but beating with hammer ruins the magnets. that, or a bad bushing

[naru]

Hard to judge commutator wear from the photos,but,there appears to be enough meat left to run for quite a while yet.

 

It appears to me that the brushes/commutator have been contaminated with oil/grease.

 

The marks on the armature are strange.Any rub marks inside the housing?

How are the bearings?

 

I would:

Polish the commutator w/320 grit.

Undercut the commutator insulation w/a hacksaw if necessary.(you want it .008-.030 inches lower than the copper)

Clean everything thourghly.

Inspect the solenoid contact

 

Your starter doesn`t have any magnets.

[NorthWet]

I beg to differ with naru on this: The damage to the armature will cause severe issues, electromagnetically. Magnetically, it is essentially like shorting that entire section of the armature where the steel laminations have been smeared into each other. Current draw will be excessive and the armature will likely get far hotter than it should. This is not even considering that SOMETHING aberrant caused this damage and will likely just cause more. (I think that Milesfox is probably right as to the cause.)

 

Replace the starter. There is another current thread about a bad starter, and one poster said that rockauto has replacements for around US$40, and used starters can be had from 20 years of subarus.