automotive starter problem

[striper2101]

need some quick advice. my wifes 2002 ford windstar would not start, pretty dead, but it did take a jump. got it to the dealer and they said the starter was bad, does this make sense? I could see it being the alternator and that killing battery, but would the starter kill the batter? I am fine if they replace it, because it is covered under the extended warranty, but does it make sense?

thanks

 

[relstabw]

Re: automotive starter problem

When you started it with booster cables you added another battery which is no more voltage(assuming you used another 12 volt battery to jump it)but is more amperage. Without knowing voltage drop and starter draw it's impossible to tell if your starter is bad. You may want to ask the tech what the starter draw was. I would guess that on your vehicle it should be less that 300 Amps. The only way a starter can kill a battery is if the draw is too high. This can also be caused by battery cables with high resistance which is why you do the voltage drop test.

 

[striper2101]

Re: automotive starter problem

thanks for the reply. i had my wife use my battery jump pack to get it started. I really just wanted to know if it was possible that the starter could kill the battery. I don't completely trust the ford dealer. previously on her car, we told them there was a noise coming from the front end and they wound up replacing the transmission after it still made the noise, they replaced a wheel bearing and the noise went away.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: automotive starter problem

Sounds like another one of those dealerships that does not really know what they are doing. I have had my share of those. Knowing what I know about how most dealership techs get paid, I do not trust any of them.

Yes, I high amp draw or a bad silenoid can kill a battery...

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: automotive starter problem

Kinda sounds like a dead/dying battery, I sure hope and gotta believe since its a Ford it is not original ?
Older batteries kinda die like that without much warning, even a 3 or 4 year old battery.

I replaced the battery in my 03 Ford last summer, when the car died in downtown Chicago rush hour traffic. I pushed it off to the side walked to sears and bought a battery and drove home.
I would like to say if your car was not charging a little battery light would come on and warn you but in my Mustang that ~idiot~ light did not. The alternator had 50k miles on it.

 

[striper2101]

Re: automotive starter problem

the battery was good, only a year old. the car only has 60k miles on it. our extended warranty runs out in december, so i hope whatever is going to go, it does so as soon as possible. i probably would have choked somebody at ford if I did not have the extended warranty on my wifes windstar and my explorer.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: automotive starter problem

Bad luck with those Fords ? Sure hope you don't have a crappy SOHC V6 Exploder..........

 

[striper2101]

Re: automotive starter problem

i have a 2002 explorer v6, the poster child of crappy fords. this was the first new car I have ever owned, it can only get better.

 

[JB]

Re: automotive starter problem

The man's question is about a Windstar.

I suspect that the real trouble is in the battery cables or connections of same. That will look to many neophytes like a weak starter.

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: automotive starter problem

With your extended warranty do you have to take it back to the ford dealer?
I would run as fast as I can from these guy's. Think about it. You had a bad wheel bearing and they replaced your transmission??

As JB said it could be some simple things. I would not trust that place at all.
Just because the battery is a year old DOES NOT mean it is good.

But........no matter how bad they screw up, they are going to get paid and you won't half to

 

[Scooch_2]

Re: automotive starter problem

I had a starter go bad in a similar way on a Geo Prizm. My mechanic said on some of them the windings slowly go bad from oil and debris and draw more current to start. With mine, you had to tun the key a few times before the starter would engage, especially on hot and humid days.

 

[dolluper]

Re: automotive starter problem

Hey whatever they want to throw at it new parts until DeC that as abonus ifin it doesn't cost adime in fact encouragen it hey not the strater lets try the battery until tnhe warenty expireesd go for it ....it's them

 

[j_martin]

Re: automotive starter problem

First, it is possible for a starter to draw too much current and make it look exactly like a bad battery, including seeming to start normally with a start. I have way more years experience than I would admit, and I missed that one just this summer.

Second, if they want to replace the starter on warranty, let them. It can't hurt. Starters have a limited life, and you've used some of it.

hope it helps
John