[Negadew]

My Mitsubishi Galant(1992) doesn’t start. First problem Generator .I changed a Generator then comes another problem what I thought to be a Starting motor and changed a new Starting motor , however I figured out latter that the old starting motor is working fine . Plus I have bought a new fully charged battery. What I hear is only a clicking sound when I turn on the key on start. What is the problem? Can u pls help ?

p.s The car use to start with out no problem bfr I chage the Generator .

 

[mack1]

Hi Negadew and welcome to TSF:wave:

I've never worked on a Mitsubishi, but I bet they aren't that much different from other manufactures. That said, please bare with me if I tell you something that you might already know, as others may not. A ring gear is mounted on the flywheel in the engine and the starter gear must spline into it long enough to start the engine, then must retreat from that egagement for the engine. GM has always used an actuator to push the starter gear into mesh until the engine started. At that time it used a ratchet effect, letting the little starter gear spin faster than the starter motor. When you released the ignition key, the actuator would retract the over spinning gear onto the starter shaft, thus disengagaing the starter. Ford started out with a bendix type system that used a spring to return the small starter gear when the engine started, but now uses a similar system to GM's.

The point of this explanation is this, the little gear on the starter had sharpened edges at the edge of the gear that had to mesh with the ring gear. The ring gear also has sharpened edges on the edge that receives the starter gear. Since they are both sharp on the edges that mess with each other, starter engagement is almost always smooth and reliable. The engagement is always at a 90 degree angle to each other, so they didn't need to see any flat edges to interfear with engagement.

If you are not bored by now, keep reading. I'm going to make a serious point soon:grin:

Lastly, the engagement actuator must reach FULL stroke to engage the heavy current need to make the starter turn over. There is a large electrical contactor in the back of the actuator for this purpose. If the gear don't fully engage, like with a loose mounted starter or a starter that has its sharp edged gear flattened and not splinning into the ring gear, then the starter motor never gets the large current needed to turn the starter over. You get a Click, Click for a Start, Start key action.

Look at the end of the starter motor gear and make sure that it is still sharp edged. If you are lucky, you won't have to change the ring gear because it's edges won't be flattened as much.

I helped my grandson change one out on a 95 model Ford last summer for the same reason. Luckly, the ring gear didn't need replacing.

Hope this helps you.

Best regards,
Mack1

 

[Negadew]

mark , thx 4 the reply . Here is the problem with the car . The starting motor is tested and is new . I have installed a new Generator and even changed a new battery , which is fully charged. Nothing is wrong with the starting motor pinion gear or anything b/c it is tested by proffesionals and it works . Yet,the car does not start as I turn on the ignition key to start position. What i hear is only a click and qrrrr sound not even from the starting motor but somewhere around where the intake and the injection system is installed .

I got some tips from some friends to connect the the starting motor to the battery using another start cables , but hey !!! Nothing happens except the same usuall sound . They say it is a problem of ground - some where but very difficult to find out where the short is . Can u Plss do give me more ideas how to solve this prob ?

peace

 

[mack1]

Hi Negadew,

Ok, that didn't help. Need to try something else. You'll need a voltmeter. If you don't have one, or can't borrow one, buy an inexpensive one. You need to measure the voltage between the battery Posts while trying the starter. When the starter engages and trys to spin the engine, the voltage will drop from 12 volt to around 9 or 10 volts. A V8 engine can pull the voltage down to 8 or 9 volts. If the voltage don't drop, you aren't getting current through the starter. It could be a loose or corroded ground cable.

Repeat the above test taking the measurements between the Cables at the battery. It should read the same as the post to post test. If not, you have a corroded cable at the battery. (a very common problem)

If you do get a good voltage drop at start and the starter or engine is locked up, you might check to see that the alternator (generator) that you replaced is locked up and that the belt is not binding in some way.

The starter is the big user of current on vehicles. The big wires from the battery usually go to the engine block (ground lead) and either to the starter, or through a solenoid (relay) then to the starter(positive lead). Normally the positive lead has some smaller branch connections at or near the battery to service the rest of the vehicle and to receive current from the alternator. There aren't many points to test in the starter circuit.

To check to see if 12 volt power,
1. Measure the voltage between the positive cable at the battery to ground (either the other battery post or the engine block) if Ok, then;
2. Move down the large positive cable to the next connection point. If it is a starter relay, it will have another large cable on the other side. Measure from there to ground. It should read zero volts until someone moves the key to start. At that point, it should read 12 volts. If not, measure the small control wire connected to the relay and see if it gets 12 volts when the switch is moved to start. If not, check the fuses and make sure the vehicle's shifter is in the Park position. If Ok, then;
3. Move down the large positive wire to the next part. This should be the solonoid actuator on the starter. If there was no starter relay in step 2 above, you should measure 12 volts here at all times and the small ignition wire would be connected on the solenoid also. Measure the small wire voltage. It should be 0 volts until the switch is moved to start and then 12 volts. (again, shifter in the park positon) Some starters have a large strap on the opposite end of the solenoid that takes the large current to a post going into the side of the starter. You should measure 12 volts here when the solonoid is pullen in (again the start position). If not, the actuator isn't traveling in far enough to make an electric contact inside and that is what my last post was all about. If you get 12 volts here, the starter should spin the engine. If 12 volts and no spin, it should be heating the starter up and you should have gotten a good voltage drop during the post to post battery measurement. If not heating and no post to post voltage drop, you need to check the ground wire at the battery and at the engine block.

Let us know how it goes and post back if some of this is unclear.

Hope this helps,
Mack1

 

[Negadew]

Sir mack 1 , thx 4 ur help . I figured out that the entire problem with my car was caused due to none functional theift detector(Alarm). It disrupt the electric current witch goes to the starting key cabel . I guess . Any way ,I can now start the car by direct connecting one of the smaller poles on the starting motor to the battery . Nevertheless, this is not a permanent solution unless I take off the Alarm system from my car . Would it be easy to take off the Alarm system or better to leave the work for a proffesional to do it ?

 

[mack1]

Hi Negadew,

Glad you at least got the problem localized. I think others here would be much better at helping with an antitheft system. I've never owned a vehicle or worked on one with it installed.

Best regards and hope you get it worked out.

Mack1