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Motor will crank but not start


ericcarter

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So I tried to move the wife’s car tonight and as I went to start her 14 Edge SE 3.5L, it would crank, but not start. I heard the starter spinning but it seemed to not engage. So I did a little research and was told to tap the side of the starter and try again. So I took the air filter off and did so. The car cranked again, and started a little roughly. So I put the air filter and assembly back on and now she starts fine. I’m wondering what the problem was and if anyone had the same issues? Or if anyone has a way to keep this from happening again. Thanks in advance. 

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Tapping the starter is an old trick.  It may fix it forever or it may work for a few days. 

I believe these starters have a solenoid that engages the gear with the fly wheel.  If the mechanism is sticky of the solenoid is weak the motor won't engage. 

I would be inclined to change the starter for reliability reasons.  I don't think your wife will be happy having to bang on the starter to get home.

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If the failure is intermittent, there could still be a problem with the starter (e.g., internal short).  Did you by any chance observe the RPMs at the time when it was spinning but not engaging?

 

When you had the starter tested, was there a readout of how many amps it was pulling?  The expected values for a 3.5/3.7 setup:

General Specifications

Item Specification
Normal engine cranking speed 200-250 rpm
Starting circuit maximum voltage drop (Engine at normal operating temperature) 0.5 volt
Starter motor maximum load current draw 800 amps
Starter motor no-load current draw 60-80 amps
Starter motor normal load current draw

130-190 amps

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On 2/2/2020 at 10:39 PM, ericcarter said:

So I tried to move the wife’s car tonight and as I went to start her 14 Edge SE 3.5L, it would crank, but not start. I heard the starter spinning but it seemed to not engage. So I did a little research and was told to tap the side of the starter and try again. So I took the air filter off and did so. The car cranked again, and started a little roughly. So I put the air filter and assembly back on and now she starts fine. I’m wondering what the problem was and if anyone had the same issues? Or if anyone has a way to keep this from happening again. Thanks in advance. 

You might get a better response if you posted in the appropriate subsection of the forum.

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