6G Celicas Forums

here's the story....stored it since september and now it's not turning over. it'll just keep clicking until the battery is drained. battery is new so i think it's the starter because it'll continuously click. is it? lol...i've jumped it everytime and it'll start up and run good. it's when i go back to start it, after i've shut it off, it wont turn over. it's pissin' me off a bit. starter?

If it will start when you jump it, then there's something in your own charging system that's not working. My guess would be your alternator is starting to go, it's running well enough to keep the car running but not strong enough to charge the battery. That or your current battery is just toast and won't hold a charge, maybe both. The clicking is the starter trying to engage the flywheel and not getting enough power.

my first initial thought was the starter. i guess ill check the alternator. battery is brand spankin' new so i have my doubts there. it's only a month or two old. i start my car once a week during the cold winters but one day i went to start it and it just clicked.

If you left your batterry out in the cold that may have had something to do with it as well. I usually bring mine in over the winter and havent had any problems. And my winters are close to 6 months long

check that you have good clean tight connection to the battery, try tapping the starter with a long rod or a hammer while someone tries to crank it.

so i put the key in...lights/sound come on. i turn the key over to start it and clicking comes on continuously before it started draining the battery (lights dimming and sound slowly goes away). tapped on the starter while my wife tried starting and nothing. did that just before the battery went out. did it a few times and then i hear a whistling from the alternator. battery connections are tight. not sure now so going to jump it tomorrow and bring it to autozone.

wait...do i need to take out the alternator if i bring it to autozone to test?

yes the alternator need to be put in their test booth. its not hard to get it off at all

thanks man!

Ok, took the alternator to autozone and that's not the issue. Now it's either my starter or some wire issue. I tried taking out the starter but it's very tight. I think I might've made a mistake by unscrewing the two long skinny bolts because the cylinder part is coming apart! How do I get the starter out?!?!? I tried for an hour and can't seem to figure it out. Someone help!

Test the battery if though its new before you replace the starter.

When the starter on my old ST was on its way out, to get it started I kept turning the key to start and back to on again and again until the starter started spinning. However, I didn't have a continuous clicking, just one large click. The issue was the contacts on the solenoid. Pulled the starter, replaced the solenoid and contacts with a kit from eBay, cost me about $20 total.

However, if the car is starting fine with a jump, it's not the starter, guaranteed. It's your battery or wiring, and I'm willing to bet its the battery.

it's the starter....take it out and test it...manually jump it.

i replaced my clutch and put everything back to where it should be and i wasn't careless when i took out the starter, i babied it out and protected it from getting damaged. carefully placing it back and got nothing when i tried to start up the engine....it click once and nothing... i tested for battery....turn on headlight and turn on the fan to high with the radio on with the key " turn to the ON" switch. i tried to turn it over and all i got was a click...my headlights didn't dim and the fan blew flawlessly....so i knew it wasn't the battery, otherwise, it would have dimmed out or fan wouldn't blow

to manually jump:

from battery....take a wire gauge and place it on the positive side, better if you have that wire connected to an alligator clip on one ends. take off the female connector connecting to the male connector located on the starter....on the male connector(of the stater)....clip the alligator on the battery positive terminal.. touch the end of the stripped wire on the male connector of the starter---> this should cause it to turn on....if it doesn't....you have a bad starter...

you can take the starter to an auto shop to test it, but sometimes the person at the shop, if they don't know what they are doing, can put too much juice to the damn starter and cause it to give you a false result = starter works and pass the test.

that's what happen to me...i just took another starter from a toyota cressida and did some modification to the wire and it cranked up....my starter pass the test at the shop, but it was a bad starter to begin with...it was probably going to give out sooner or later and sooner came first.


ill post up the pic with the modification i did to show you or if you know any close member....just take out their starter and try it on your car....easier way...

This post has been edited by chacha: Mar 25, 2011 - 1:52 PM

dude its your start 100% if its clicking really fast and your bat is charged all the way its your starter lol your alternator has nothin to do with your car starting you can jump it with a bad altenator and it will still start it will die wen u take the cables off the only other thing that i can think of is that your engine has locked up really gud but im pretty sure u need a new starter

I say Battery for sure. I just had this issue the other day when i left my battery out in the cold and forgot to start it weekly. Pulled the battery, slapped a new one in and BAM! Starts like a champ. Make sure you clean your posts really well, if they aren't giving a good enough connection it can cause the starter to act up since it won't be drawing enough power.
Hope this helps!

James

continuous clicking is usually battery or wiring,

if it drains right away then it's definitely battery, but if it takes ages to drain then theres a bad electrical contact or ground.

either way, thats what it sounds like when it's got enough juice to complete a circuit but not enough juice to crank the motor

from my experience, clicking = starter issues. that happened to most of the cars i've owned. this one, it was the battery. i took the alternator and starter in to autozone and they both passed. good thing i still have a warranty for the battery so i just switched for a new one. car runs good now. THANKS to everyone that helped.




my first thought was starter because my battery was new and i started the celica once a week to get it warmed up. but i was dead wrong haha. thanks man.



ding ding ding. damn, i guess it must be the cold...i've never stored a car before so eh. thanks though