Speed Auto Repair advises that you can expect to get 100,000 miles or more out of the factory starter installed in your automobile at assembly. One thing that will kill the starter prematurely, however, is motor oil. If you end up with a cracked head gasket or a cracked cylinder block, the oil can leak out of the gasket or block and saturate the starter. This will kill the starter prematurely. We are going to list the signs that your starter motor is dying below so you know what to look for in your automobile.
Noises Before Ignition
One thing that can happen is you can hear strange noises before your car, truck, or utility vehicle ignites. When this happens, the engine may or may not start. The noises you might hear include clicking, whirring, or humming. If you do get the engine to fire up, we recommend that you drive straight to our shop. These noises are a precursor to a dead starter and a dead engine. Replacing the starter before it dies completely will prevent you from getting stranded.
Completely Dead Engine
If you don’t replace the faulty starter, there will come a point when you end up with a completely dead engine. No amount of effort is going to get the engine started because the engine needs a functional starter motor in order to start. This is why the starter is called the starter.
All the Lights Are Working
You can run a quick test to determine if the reason why your engine isn’t starting is that the starter motor has died. Turn on all of your vehicle lights and open the door to see if the interior and exterior lights are illuminated at their normal brightness. If they are, they are receiving power from the battery and alternator, which means that these two parts are not the reason why your vehicle won’t start. Working lights suggest that the engine is dead because the starter is dead.
Smoke and Burning Odors
Finally, don’t continue in vain to try to get your engine to start. If you keep turning the ignition key or pressing the start button, you will end up overheating the starter motor. When this happens, you will see smoke coming out from underneath the hood and smell burning odors in the engine.
Speed Auto Repair in Roswell and Alpharetta, GA, is here to help, so call the shop closest to you today if you suspect that your starter is going bad.