Starters:
Starters – A car starter is a powerful electric motor that cranks your engine in order to start your car.
Starter Motor Components
- Main housing (yoke)
- Overrunning clutch
- Armature
- Field coils
- Brushes
- Solenoid
A high current is needed to start your car.
So your battery has to have enough “juice” to enable the car starting system to work properly.
Starters do wear out.
Use Your Ears and Your Headlights to Help Diagnose Your Starter System
Starting system troubles may be caused by poor maintenance.
Or just wear and tear.
Funny sounds, or no sound, upon the turn of the key may indicate electrical problems in the starter or elsewhere in the starting system.
Some of the most common electrical problems are corroded electrical connections, an undercharged or bad battery, or a malfunctioning component:
- Bad neutral safety switch (automatic transmission)
- Clutch safety switch – bad (manual transmission)
- Starter relay – bad
- Bad starter solenoid
- Corroded electrical connections in the starting circuit
- Worn-out part in the starter motor or some other system component
“I Don’t Hear Anything.”
When you try to start your car, you may hear no sound at all. This silence may be due to electrical issues, such as:
Discharged or failed battery,
Failed system component (for example, relay or safety switch),
Or corroded electrical connections (including battery terminals) that prevent electrical current from reaching the starter motor.
Automotive starter motor components.
The test:
Have a friend, or a willing assistant turn on the headlights and try to start the engine.
As you stand in front of but to one side of your car (just in case your car decides to start and lurch forward).
How Long Will a Car Starter Last?
When you need an oil change, you know it.
But like many car parts, starters are unpredictable.
No two starters will last the same length of time and there is usually no way to know that your starter is dying until the day your car doesn’t start and you have to call for service.
They could last as long as 321868.8km or as little as 48280.32km.
Because of this, mileage isn’t really a good representation of how long a starter will last. Nor is time.