Intermittent will not start issue

Tiny
CAMPINGCORGI
  • MEMBER
  • 2011 TOYOTA RAV4
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 175,000 MILES
Left the hospital after visiting family, car would not start. Called service, they tried jumping it and it wouldn’t start. He thunked the starter and car started right up. Drove straight to a trusted mechanic and they changed the battery but had no problem starting car. Kept it an extra day and no troubles. Worked fine at home for a week and then same trouble. Everything lights up, but starter doesn’t even click. Couldn’t get to the previous mechanic so I thunked the starter and drove to a nearby commercial garage. They changed the starter and it was great for a week. Then the same thing. It started with a light thunk and runs fine and starts fine but I fully expect the trouble to recur. Any clues what might be the issue? The car has been great and I’d love to trust it again.
Sunday, May 23rd, 2021 AT 5:34 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
This sounds like a starter issue. The fact that they thumped the starter and it worked just means they were hitting the solenoid and getting it to move slightly so that it would find a good spot for the brushes to make contact and it would complete the circuit and spin the starter.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/starter-not-working-repair

So the fact that it is operating right now is a good thing and I am not sure it will happen again. As for it happening after the starter was replaced may be a coincidence or a different issue. It may be a faulty starter or some other issue but if this happens again, we are going to have to check for voltage at the starter to confirm it is the starter and not another issue.

Here is a guide that will help us with this. We should have 12 volts on the wire from the battery at all times. The control wire should have 12 volts only when cranking the engine.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-wiring

Below are the wiring diagrams. Let us know if you have any questions and we can go from there. Thanks
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Monday, May 24th, 2021 AT 3:54 PM
Tiny
CAMPINGCORGI
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Thanks. So far no more problems but if it happens again I will get the mechanic to check the voltage.
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Monday, May 24th, 2021 AT 4:13 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Sounds great. If it does and you get that voltage just come back to this post and update it as it will always be here. Thanks for this update.
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 AT 6:54 PM

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