1st Gen R53 Cooper S Starter Issue?

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by jeffster06, Dec 3, 2011.

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  1. jeffster06

    jeffster06 Active Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    Well it seems I can't win lately.....

    This morning I went to leave for work and my car started... well kind of it was letting this ungodly screech sound (like if you were to try starting the car while it was already running) so I immediately turned the key to the off position to discover my starter was still running.

    I tried turning the car over again no change. starter continued running. My next thought was to disconnect the battery this stopped the starter motor from turning over the engine.

    After the little hick up I decided maybe the car will behave now. I tried turning the car over no click nothing. My windows and everything won't even go up. I figured being one of the first cold mornings maybe my battery finally died.

    Fast forward to this evening after work. I picked up a new battery hooked it up and discovered no change car doesn't turn over click or anything. At this point I figured maybe I blew a fuse. sure enough the Ignition fuse was blown. I changed it out and my car seemed to come back to life again. Until I tried to start it. The motor didn't try to turn over it just blew the fuse again.

    I haven't got to crawl under the car and look at the starter yet but I have however done some continuity testing and from the positive line to the fuse box to ground I'm showing a short. everything else works fine in the car radio etc. as long as the ignition fuse isn't blow but it seems as soon as I try to turn over the car the fuse blows.

    I have talked to wmw about this and he thinks it may be a faulty starter. Before I go tearing my car apart to get to the starter are there any other tests I can do to pin point that as my problem?

    Sorry for the long post I figured its best if I can lay out all I know in hopes maybe someone has experienced this or has suggestions.
     
  2. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2010
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    Sounds like a bad starter...
    the fact you say it enguaged, then got stuck "on"...
    Usually when this happens the little gear on the end of the started gets chewed up fast, or the starter gets burned up pretty fast ....
    Old school when this would happen...suck either way, was to wack it with a hammer...and you could get 1 or 2 more weeks out of it....
    only tests i know involves removing the starter....some auto places will test them...but since yours got stuck in the on postion, the windings are likely overheared, and shot, and the little gear on the end is chewed up....so going with what wmw says seems to be a good idea. Pulling it out will certainly tell you it failed, but having the new one to install right away (while the removal steps are fresh in your mind) is great....so imo, just order one.
     
  3. jeffster06

    jeffster06 Active Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    I meant to update this. I removed the starter the next day after posting. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I got the starter tested twice and it passed both times. I ended up trying it in the car again and it is still working. Not sure what I did but removing and reinstalling seems to have remedied my issue. Seeing it wasn't all that hard to remove I figure I will keep it in the back of my mind that it could fail again at some point.

    When you say the little gear gets chewed up are you talking about the one that contacts the flywheel? Looking at it I didn't see any noticeable problems. maybe I was able to stop it before it overheated. It only ran for about a min maybe less before I was able to disconnect the battery.
     
  4. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2010
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    Sounds like you "saved" it, but it will likely happen again if it previously got stuck...
    The little gear i'm talking about is the one on the starter...much simpler fix than the flywheel side...
    Folks used to spray some wd40 into tge starter, or wack it with a hammer like i said before...but it sounds like it is on the way out..if it sticks "sometimes", it only takes once or twice to destroy it.
     
  5. jeffster06

    jeffster06 Active Member

    Apr 23, 2010
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    Yea I figure I'm on borrowed time. Next time it occurs I will be replacing it. It only took about an hour to get it out.
     
  6. DneprDave

    DneprDave Well-Known Member
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    Oct 23, 2010
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    I glad that there are still some things that you can fix by whacking them with a hammer!

    Dave
     

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