Three symptoms indicating a defective starter: Tips for troubleshooting starters and alternators
04-11-2020Since an internal combustion engine cannot start by itself, a functioning starter is essential for a roadworthy vehicle. Below, we’d also like to give you some helpful tips for troubleshooting starters and alternators.
Starter and alternator faults: rare, but not impossible
Starters are fundamentally maintenance-free and will do their job over the entire life of a vehicle. However, should they fail or malfunction, in many cases this is due to oxidised or faulty electrical connections, defective solenoid switches, damaged electric motors or worn single-pinion gears, or the driving pinion (wear or "clogging-up") or freewheel.
Three symptoms indicating a defective starter
If you notice these signs when there is a faulty start attempt, this indicates that the starter is defective:
Approaches to searching for the cause of the failure
A starter malfunction can have different causes: Perhaps the electrical connections are faulty. A stiff or defective magnetic switch (engaging relay) could also be a possible cause. To be on the safe side, also check the electric motor for damage and take a close look at the single-pinion gears, starter pinion or freewheel.
Find our brochure with all information about our new parts programme for starters and alternators in OE quality for cars, vans and commercial vehicles as well as a list of individual starter faults and the appropriate solutions here: LINK
And incidentally: Nobody achieves really fantastic things entirely on their own – not even us! This requires great colleagues with a sense of teamwork, expertise, experience ... and of course you! We’ve listened to what you’ve got to say so we’re ditching our deposit system for starters and alternators! For you, this means: super easy handling, parts in top quality and a three-year guarantee!
