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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'90 Buick Century, Starter Problems
Q:
I've got a ‘90 Buick Century that's having starter/solenoid problems.
(I don't know which). Yesterday, we drove the car 10 miles into town,
turned it off, and I waited for my wife to return from the store. I tried
starting it between time, but it acted like it had a bad battery. It finally
wouldn't even click. I walked to an auto parts store, bought a battery
and installed it. Still no luck. I finally got under the car, tapped on
the starter and some life came back to it. While tapping, my son was turning
the key and sparks flew out of the terminal end of the starter, but it
did start. We drove it another 10 miles and parked. As soon as I turned
it of I tried starting it again, but all it did was click once and nothing
else. This time tapping on it didn't even produce anything. So which is
it? The starter or the solenoid? And where do I find something that will
tell me how to replace these parts?....Jon Clemons
A:
With sparks flying
it is a pretty good guess that there is a connection problem at the starter.
The problem may be as simple as cleaning and tightening the connections
or the starter (due to age may be in need of rebuilding). If you had no
experience in rebuilding starters the suggestion would be to remove the
starter. Inspect the external connections to see if it is something that
can be simply addressed such as cleaning and tightening. Once removed
if the problem appears to be deeper , replacement of the starter would
probably be in your better interest. The installation of a rebuilt or
a used starter would have you up and running quickly. One other important
item, do not forget to unhook the battery when servicing the starter!
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