potential starter problem??

[Missay]

i always over-react when i hear or feel anything weird w/ my car, but..what do you guys think.

it's only happened twice so far, but when i started the car it made a really gross sharp pitch noise like the sound a starter makes when someone turns the key too far.

i know i didn't turn the key too far, i just started it easy like i usually do, but for some reason it sounded like the starter was just grinding.

of course, like the brake light, luv wouldn't make the noise when i repeated started the car and turned it off for my father to hear.....sigh

he thinks it might be a sign that the starter could be hinting that it's ready to go....grrr..i hope he's wrong, i don't wanna pay for that!!

i have almost 42k..should a starter go out that soon!!

[Whatever]

hmmm... i dont' have that kind of problem, and i never heard any body has problem with the starter.....

[Gunman]

its starting to stick miss. check it out. be on the safe side

[NASTY]

sure the car wasnt already on when you started it
it is pretty quiet...

[onefiend]

yeah Ive made the mistake of turning the car on while it was already on. The Solara is very qiuet with the windows up. Ive done this twice to my baby.

[Flipside909]

i have almost 42k..should a starter go out that soon!!

That's too soon. It could be a defective starter if so. It's fairly easy to remove the starter. A rebuilt starter should cost around $200 and $300 or more for a brand new one. Most rebuilts have a lifetime warranty if you get it from Autozone, Kragen and etc.

[Missay]

sure the car wasnt already on when you started it
it is pretty quiet...

no, it was off. the first time i was leaving work and the second time i was leaving somewhere..i can't remember. but it was off..it hasn't done it again, so i'm hoping luv just had a 2night cold!

[Kenn157]

My 88 Camry made that noise every once-in-awhile. So did my moms. Sometimes even a 2nd or 3rd time when trying to start. Then months would go by without any problem. I didnt have it check but it wouldnt do any harm to bring it into the dealer.

[atlantasolara]

hi. i've had mechanics regularly recommending a starter replacement when it was only a defective battery that was causing problems. note that the starter is used only for one second max each time you start the car, probably totaling less than 10 seconds of use per day on average !

what does go wrong with the starter, and this happens only after repeated starter use over a long period of time, is a smaller part inside called the solenoid. but we're talking here of about 120k or so miles or 6 plus years of daily use by, say, a courier who shuts off and cranks the engine for each of his 30 daily stops.

i'd have the battery, cables and all terminals/connections checked first before doing anything with the starter.

[Gunman]

didnt you have a front end accident on that car miss?

[Missay]

didnt you have a front end accident on that car miss?

yea, it was the passenger's side front...opposite of the battery. the website on my profile is the before/after pics

i'm wondering if you guys are right about the battery. every now and then the lights and interiors have been dimming at night inside the car. i was afraid that the battery was going, but it's started every morning i've had the car like a good, little toyota always does!! (although i have set up a lot of jump starts the past couple of weeks for 00 toyota camrys) watch me jinx myself and the car won't start in the morning!!

[Gunman]

have em go over the connection from the alt to the battery. how bad was the impact?

[Missay]

have em go over the connection from the alt to the battery. how bad was the impact?

it damage wasn't that bad, but the impact was hard enough for me! it happened so fast, i don't remember most of it now, i really have blocked most of it from my memory..i just remember "that feeling"..o god..that's the worst feeling.

after slamming on the brakes going 30-35, i was probably going 25ish when i hit her head on..i'm just guessing though..it could have been a lot more or less..probably about 30ish at most.

i would have had a lot less damage if that stupid suv wasn't so much bigger and didn't have killer metal bumpers!!

[Whatever]

i can't even feel it when my car's engin is on, yesterday my brother ask me "why don't you start the engin?" hehehe

[Missay]

i can't even feel it when my car's engin is on, yesterday my brother ask me "why don't you start the engin?" hehehe

i don't understand it...when i test drove my car it was so quiet, i didn't even know it was on..now it seems to be so noisy. when it started sounding gross it was like exactly the 91st day after buying the car..and of course my used car warranty was for 90days..lol

i think i got the difficult solara on the lot. hahah..luv has been giving me tons of little headaches lately...but, hey, she's running no matter what!!