Trouble starting

VECHT VOOR VRIJHEID

MEMBER
1997 NISSAN MICRA
1.0L
RWD
MANUAL
80,000 MILES

Hello, my car has some trouble starting sometimes.
It will start just fine when I get in it in the morning then I drive a while and it stop and try starting it again five minutes later and it will not start. You hear the engine turn over and it starts like a second and then it stops and it can take from two tries until the point that I push the car and then it starts.
It seems like the problems are getting worse and worse everyday.
I hope you can help me out.

Thanks anyway.

Dirk H

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

It sounds like you are describing a failing starter solenoid. The symptoms would include you hear a rather loud, single clunk each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank". The other dandy observation is it is gradually getting worse. If you keep on cycling the ignition switch enough times, it will eventually crank.

The cause is worn contacts in the starter solenoid. On some starters this is so common, you can buy very inexpensive repair kits in hardware stores. Yours is a different design and not really easy to repair. This would be handled by replacing the starter motor, or you can replace just the solenoid on the starter motor if you can find one.