Engine Starting Issue

[timhewitt85]

I have had my motor home for a few months and it has started and run excellent, except for one time. It is a 1990 Dolphin 900, built on a 1989 Toyota 3.0 V6 3VZE. It normally starts well hot or cold, and has done well on short and long trips. Yesterday we took it for a hour drive. Stopped and had lunch for about a hour and a half, and then it would not start. I could hear clicking from the starter, but the engine would not crank/turnover. Then out of the blue after trying to start it 50 times, and a half hour later it just magically started up perfectly like a champ. I have not been able to recreate the issue as it again refuses to do anything but start up. I am wondering if anyone has any history of something similar.

[Derek up North]

I'd suggest undoing, cleaning and reassembling all the wires in your starter motor circuit. Sounds like some corrosion somewhere is stopping .full current getting through. And don't forget both ends of any ground cables. Some dielectric grease at reassembly is always a good idea.

Getting your starter/engine battery tested might not be a bad idea too.

[twoblocked]

In my case, '92 Winnebago V6 3VZE, it turned out to be the starter solenoid contactors. It happened three times in a 7,000 mile trip. In each case I crawled underneath and tapped on the starter/solenoid with the handle end of a hammer (you can't get at it with the business end of the hammer, the starter is buried) The truck started right up after a little persuasion.

That winter I dropped the starter and replaced the badly pitted copper contactors in the solenoid. Parts were cheap at Toyota. Tough job because the starter is in a very inaccessable location and hard to snake out of the engine compartment.

[Odyssey 4x4]

Sounds like it could be anything from a bad starter solenoid to corrosion as previous people have said! I'd clean all battery terminals if they need it, check connections and grounds at starter. As two blocked said, the hammer tap trick usually does it.

[zero]

I have had my motor home for a few months and it has started and run excellent, except for one time. It is a 1990 Dolphin 900, built on a 1989 Toyota 3.0 V6 3VZE. It normally starts well hot or cold, and has done well on short and long trips. Yesterday we took it for a hour drive. Stopped and had lunch for about a hour and a half, and then it would not start. I could hear clicking from the starter, but the engine would not crank/turnover. Then out of the blue after trying to start it 50 times, and a half hour later it just magically started up perfectly like a champ. I have not been able to recreate the issue as it again refuses to do anything but start up. I am wondering if anyone has any history of something similar.

If it does it again - turn your headlights on and have someone stand in front and look at them when you try to start. If they go dim when you hear the "click" - you've got a bad battery connection. If they stay bright when you hear the click - the starter solenoid has bad contacts (or bad brushes in the starter).

[Maineah]

Starter contacts very common problem happens to every one of them some time in the life of the starter.

[zero]

There are two totally different scenarios that can have the starter-relay contacts clicking with no starter cranking.

#1 can be full battery power to the starter but just a bad spot on the contacts. I.e. they close but no longer have continuity.

#2 can be poor battery power (to the starter) and the contacts are closing but do not have enough power for anything to happen. Takes just 1 amp to close those contacts. When the starter calls for 150-200 amps -the line goes dead.

With #1 - if the headlights are on -they will stay bright when the "click" is heard. That because there is no amp draw from the starter.

With #2 - if poor battery power - the headlights will go dim when the "click" is heard.

Easy test.