There seem to be a lot of thread on problems starting so I thought I would add my $0.02.
My specific problem was that the car would start 1 out of every 10-15 tries. Most of the time the car would just click and then nothing. Then for some reason it would start just like it normally would. The problem went from occasional to horrible in about 6 months.
I checked the normal things:
Corrosion on the battery terminals
Bad Grounds
Less than optimal battery charge
Ignition switch
None were the probem. The next down the list was the starter, then the igniter.
From the manual, the easiest way to test the ignition switch can be found on page 23-78. Very simply, you turn the key to the ON postion and then bypass the starter circut and go right to the starter with power. Takes about 10 minutes, and is a whole lot easier than trying to get to the ignition switch (which I also did). On my car when I followed the directions, the starter still just went *click* then nada.
For removal instructions, see page 23-81 in the manual for instructions or this thread:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21370&highlight=starter+removal
Even though I have the manual, the thread gave me the confidence that I could easily do this DIY style, which turned out to be cake.
My rebuild cost me $94 including parts. The place that did mine replaced all the bearings, the contacts, and the plunger as well as sand blasted the surface and generally made the thing look like new. The guys at the shop mentioned a few things about the starter. First that the Denso starter in these cars are about as bulletproof as they come. They have not seen one yet that cannot be successfully rebuilt. The tech who serviced my particular starter said everything was perfect except the contacts. He replaced everything else for good measure and basically said the starter would be good for another 15 years. The brushes he mentioned looked brand new. What the problem on mine was that one of the contacts was worn down and was arcing. The other was fine which was why he said that sometimes it would work and other times nothing.
My main point of writing a novel is to hopefully save someone a lot of money and hopefully giving them confidence to DIY over taking the car to the dealer for a new starter. The service would have been upwards of $800 + tax. Mine was under $100 and about an hour of wrenching. It is REALLY easy. Even putting it back in is cake as long as you put in the bottom bolt first. Took me about 20 minutes to get it in and eveything back together. Honesly, anyone who can do an oil change or a brake pad replacement can replace a starter on this car.
Here are a few pictures of the bad contact, the OK contact, and the plunger where the arcing was occuring:
For reference I scanned the invoice in case there are problems finding part numbers:
My specific problem was that the car would start 1 out of every 10-15 tries. Most of the time the car would just click and then nothing. Then for some reason it would start just like it normally would. The problem went from occasional to horrible in about 6 months.
I checked the normal things:
Corrosion on the battery terminals
Bad Grounds
Less than optimal battery charge
Ignition switch
None were the probem. The next down the list was the starter, then the igniter.
From the manual, the easiest way to test the ignition switch can be found on page 23-78. Very simply, you turn the key to the ON postion and then bypass the starter circut and go right to the starter with power. Takes about 10 minutes, and is a whole lot easier than trying to get to the ignition switch (which I also did). On my car when I followed the directions, the starter still just went *click* then nada.
For removal instructions, see page 23-81 in the manual for instructions or this thread:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21370&highlight=starter+removal
Even though I have the manual, the thread gave me the confidence that I could easily do this DIY style, which turned out to be cake.
My rebuild cost me $94 including parts. The place that did mine replaced all the bearings, the contacts, and the plunger as well as sand blasted the surface and generally made the thing look like new. The guys at the shop mentioned a few things about the starter. First that the Denso starter in these cars are about as bulletproof as they come. They have not seen one yet that cannot be successfully rebuilt. The tech who serviced my particular starter said everything was perfect except the contacts. He replaced everything else for good measure and basically said the starter would be good for another 15 years. The brushes he mentioned looked brand new. What the problem on mine was that one of the contacts was worn down and was arcing. The other was fine which was why he said that sometimes it would work and other times nothing.
My main point of writing a novel is to hopefully save someone a lot of money and hopefully giving them confidence to DIY over taking the car to the dealer for a new starter. The service would have been upwards of $800 + tax. Mine was under $100 and about an hour of wrenching. It is REALLY easy. Even putting it back in is cake as long as you put in the bottom bolt first. Took me about 20 minutes to get it in and eveything back together. Honesly, anyone who can do an oil change or a brake pad replacement can replace a starter on this car.
Here are a few pictures of the bad contact, the OK contact, and the plunger where the arcing was occuring:
For reference I scanned the invoice in case there are problems finding part numbers:
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