Starter on a 1999 Subaru Outback Legacy

[Ravi]

My Outback has about 116K miles on it and in the last couple of weeks,
I've been having trouble starting my car. When the get the key to the
"Start" position, I can hear the relay clicking, but the motor does
not start up. AFter a few trys, it might start up. The problem is
intermittent though, as I have been able to start it twice this week

I am a novice, and my efforts to take the starter motor out were not
successful. The nuts that mount the starter motor to the engine are
too tight and I spent 3 hrs before giving up!

Does anyone know
1) If The starter is the probable culprit
2) Cost to get this changed at the mechanic? One of the guys I called
said about $250-$300. Sounds like a lot, given that the starter itself
is about $125 (from autozone). Maybe it is 2-3 hrs of labour

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

Regards
Ravi

 

[Buddy]

here's Ravi's last post ->:

My Outback has about 116K miles on it and in the last couple of weeks,
I've been having trouble starting my car. When the get the key to the
"Start" position, I can hear the relay clicking, but the motor does
not start up. AFter a few trys, it might start up. The problem is
intermittent though, as I have been able to start it twice this week

I am a novice, and my efforts to take the starter motor out were not
successful. The nuts that mount the starter motor to the engine are
too tight and I spent 3 hrs before giving up!

Does anyone know
1) If The starter is the probable culprit
2) Cost to get this changed at the mechanic? One of the guys I called
said about $250-$300. Sounds like a lot, given that the starter itself
is about $125 (from autozone). Maybe it is 2-3 hrs of labour

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

Regards
Ravi

I can't offer much except how old is your battery ie. how's it
holding a charge and possibly need to clean battery connections
and/or check if their loose. I would suspect and check the battery
first.

--

 

[Ravi]

Thanks Buddy,

The Voltage across the battery measured 12.63 V with the car turned
off. How can I measure the things you mention?

Ravi

 

[Buddy]

here's Ravi's last post ->:

Thanks Buddy,

The Voltage across the battery measured 12.63 V with the car turned
off. How can I measure the things you mention?

Ravi

Look at the battery connections. Do you see any greenish corrosion
or whitish powder at the terminals? If yes, disconnect safely and
clean with a proper wire brush the cable and then the battery
terminal. Some cleaning can be done by scraping terminals with an
old knife until shiny lead is seen. Use some dielectric grease (or
vaseline if you have to) and wipe it on the surface of the contact
between the battery terminal and cable clamp. Re-tighten.

If they look clean, wiggle the cable connections to the battery
and see if either is loose. Tighten if necessary.

A battery might read 12.63 volts and still not have enough amps to
turn over the starter, hence why I asked how old the battery is
because after 5 years or so, the battery will naturally loose amp
storing ability due to the plates inside getting covered with lead
or zinc, I can't remember which.

How long have you had the car and did you ever replace the
battery? Try jumping the car with another car when the problem
occurs next time. If the starter turns well when being jumped, its
not likely to be the culprit, your battery is. How that helps some.

--

 

[Greg in IN]

Ravi,

First verify battery state of charge and capacity.
If low charge - recharge.
When at full charge load test - if fail, replace battery.
If pass load test check voltage drops of starting circuit.

These urls should help.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/1999/cm119948.htm
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gd52o
http://www.boschautoparts.com/NR/rd...-42A2-A662-E4B43D8DCA8F/0/StartingSystems.pdf
http://www.genco1.com/tech_tip_details.cfm?id=18
http://www.excelauto.com/online/Tech.d/strvdt.html
http://www.engine-light-help.com/voltage-drop.html



HTH,
Greg in IN

 

[Clifford Heath]

Look at the battery connections.
A battery might read 12.63 volts and still not have enough amps to turn
over the starter,

Yes. It's the voltage while cranking that matters

If Buddy's tips don't help, suspect the starter relay itself.
The contacts could be burnt. But the battery is most likely,
followed by bad connections, at least a hundred times more likely.

 

[KLS]

My Outback has about 116K miles on it and in the last couple of weeks,
I've been having trouble starting my car. When the get the key to the
"Start" position, I can hear the relay clicking, but the motor does
not start up. AFter a few trys, it might start up. The problem is
intermittent though, as I have been able to start it twice this week

Just as a datapoint, we also have a 1999 OBW, and this summer we
finally changed out the battery because the car would not start a
couple times. It was the factory battery!!! The car now has 96k
miles on it. We thought the problem might be the starter, but we
decided to try the battery first, and now all is well.

 

[Uncle Ben]

My Outback has about 116K miles on it and in the last couple of weeks,
I've been having trouble starting my car. When the get the key to the
"Start" position, I can hear the relay clicking, but the motor does
not start up. AFter a few trys, it might start up. The problem is
intermittent though, as I have been able to start it twice this week

I am a novice, and my efforts to take the starter motor out were not
successful. The nuts that mount the starter motor to the engine are
too tight and I spent 3 hrs before giving up!

Does anyone know
1) If The starter is the probable culprit
2) Cost to get this changed at the mechanic? One of the guys I called
said about $250-$300. Sounds like a lot, given that the starter itself
is about $125 (from autozone). Maybe it is 2-3 hrs of labour

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

Regards
Ravi

Quick and easy test: Park another car nearby and connect batteries
with jumper cables. See if your car will now start. If so, the
trouble is with your battery. Otherwise, not.

 

[Robert L Wilson]

This is a classic problem on cars (Japanese and some American) using Nippon
Denso starters. The symptoms are widely reported. In a pinch you can
probablyh get the car started by hitting on the starter with a block of wood
or something like while someone else is turning the key back and forth. Or
if you are lucky you just turn the key back and forth and one time the
solenoid will make contact. The solenoid contacts are very soft copper,
which makes a good contact. But over time it gets beaten down to be too thin
for the moving contact to reach the stationary ones.
The good news is that it is easy to fix if you can work on electrical stuff.
Subaru does not sell the solenoid separately, just the whole starter for
lots of bucks, the last time I checked.
You said you have trouble getting the bolts off. What tools are you using?
You will definitely
want to get on there with box wrenches, not open ends. I have not had a
problem other than that the area is very crowded. But if you take off the
starter you
will be able to see how to take off the solenoid, and it is pretty easy to
disassemble. The two stationary contacts officially should be replaced: I
have seen them sometimes on ebay. But I have rebuilt them quite a few times,
for Subys and Toyotas and for that matter Plymouths and Dodges. I do have a
milling machine, that helps, but I did this before I had a milling machine
just using a Dremel mototool. You will see that the copper has been beaten
down thin. You need to machine a flat surface on it, then solder on some
good solid copper, ideally a little harder than the original. If I could not
find copper sheet (maybe 3/32" thick) around I have used anything handy. I
know I soldered a copper penny into one. On another I flattened out a piece
cut from some copper pipe and used that. After the new metal is well
soldered in (has to be very strong joint!) you machine away the extra so the
contact is back to its original shape.
If you can find a good old shop that specializes in repairing starters and
generators/alternators, they can surely fix it. But they seem to have
largely disappeared, mechanics just replace the starter.
If you search the web you will find that Nippon Denso solenoids go out about
every 120K miles or so. I think most people just replace the starter, but
you can save a lot of money if you just rebuild the contacts.
Bob Wilson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ravi" <(e-mail address removed)>
Newsgroups: alt.autos.subaru
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:51 AM
Subject: Starter on a 1999 Subaru Outback Legacy

 

[Nathan]

The problem is a worn contact on the positive battery cable side of the
starter
solenoid. It is a common problem on all gear reductions starters. You can get
the contact
at any Napa store for about six bucks (or from any Toyota dealership for
twelve).

Nate