Is there anyone out there that is mechanical savvy?

Question

Okay. We have a 1995 Nisan Pickup XE. It's a V6. The starter went out in it finally today. My husband took out the old one and put in a new one. Well when we start it, the positive side of the battery cable sparks and it doesn't start. He rechecked all the connections and everything seemed okay. It's a new battery so we know it's not the battery. Coming off the truck there is only two connections to the starter: a plastic plug and the other screws directly onto the starter. If anyone can put any input I'd greatly appreciate it and please only answer if you actually have an answer pertaining to my question.

My husband is thinking it might be a ground somewhere.

What is Bench checking?

It's a brand new battery, only bought two weeks ago and when we bought the new battery we replaced the battery terminals.

Answer 1

Providing the cable are not somehow reversed, the cables will spark if loose, must be secured they cant can not spark if tight ok, make sure no wires on the starter are lose and the starter must be tight, this could be what was wrong with the first starter is a bad cable or loose connection account for 75% of all batter starter related problums, and or you just happened to get a bad starter! when you replaced it , seen this many times aswell , remove from vehicle take jumper cables and test it off the vehicle, should do this on any new part when replacing it just so you don't go through what your going through now, any how, you must verfiy some of therse things first ok its a proses of elimnation, , 1, cables must be sucure (tight) and proper battery voltage 12+, take a test light and turn the key in the on position take the light and make sure it hot at the battery cable on the starter, the little plug in wire should be not hot at this point, then have some one turn the key to th start position and the littlet plug in wire must be hot then and only then when you remove the key from the start position back to the run position, it must be not hot (or dead at that point), The small wire is the start wire comes from the ign switch and is only hot or has power when the key is in the full statring positon when you take your had off the key it turns off the start wire and goes to the run position, if all checks out and still don't start remove starter and get a differrent one and repet the proses, sounds to me its a loose connection, from my chair, good luck, be sure when changind remove one of the battery cables when replacing so they dont call you sparky.

Answer 2

You have two wires on your starter; a large one, and a small one. The small one comes from the ignition switch. To bench test this starter, you need to take it out of the vehicle. Take a set of jumper cables and hook the BLACK cable to the BODY of the starter. Hook the RED cable, YELLOW on some brands of cables, to the BIG post. Hook the other end of the BLACK cable to the NEGATIVE BATTERY POST. Take a small jumper wire and hook it from the RED OR YELLOW cable, to the small terminal on the starter. Take the other end of the RED OR YELLOW cable and "tap" the POSITIVE post of your battery. This is "bench testing". this test may be inconclusive since you won't know exactly what your starter draw is. It may turn over, but not enough, or may be "sticky". I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If you own Japanese vehicles, buy Japanese parts. Beck Arnley is the only way to go. Your local NAPA AUTO PARTS can get them, if they don't already stock them. Good Luck.

Answer 3

are you sure the positive cable is attached to the right place on the starter? usually it will attach to the solenoid and then there is the ignition wire that will activate the connection when the key is turned... its also possible that the way the cable is attached is somehow allowing the cable to short to somthing close by ... its also possible that the starter isnt spaced properly and is locking up ..a shim may be needed ... i would unbolt it and let it hang free ... hold onto it so it doesnt twist everywhere and have someone hit the key and see what its doing ... play with the wires then if its not working to see where the connection is messed up... you'll have to hold the starter up to the block to get a groud while doing this ... and yes i agree with the one above a bad battery connection could be complicating things....

Answer 4

I think you may have accidentally grounded the positive big lead cable or the solenoid plastic wires causing a short circuit when you try to start the car.You can try to recheck the positive (big lead) cable that is attach to starter is where it should belong and also the small plastic wire to solenoid is where it should be.
What you can also try to do is to disconnect the solenoid plastic wire lead from the starter and try to restart.All you should hear is clicking noise from car relays(and No spark and no starter noise)
Now make sure you reconnect the plastic wire plug to the correct starter solenoid lead making sure that it is not the ground lead to solenoid.
Another way to check the starter is to use a jumper cable on the old starter and play with it by clamping the black/ground to any metal part of the starter(starter housing)and use the positive/red lead to touch the solenoid connector lead(you should see and hear the solenoid clicking)Good luck.

Answer 5

my girlfriend has a 94 pickup. you may try cleaning the battery terminals. the sparks indicate that the conection is not good. use a wire brush to clean the battery post and the terminal. if the terminal is not on tight then it will cause a bad conection. also disconect the cable from the starter and use some sandpaper to make shure it is making a good conection. if none of that works make sure the battery is putting out 12 volts or higher. if still not working then take it to a mechanic.

Answer 6

Only 2 ideas without seeing it. Is it the right starter for that truck?
Di he have to disconnect any other auxiliary wires from the battery that might be hanging loose?

Answer 7

it might be a defective starter, it happens sometimes
bench check it off the truck with jumper cables

Answer 8

There are different aspects of electric powered engineering as well pcs. there is electronics and evidently the former standby yet needed area of electric powered ability and intensely last yet no longer least eco-friendly ability.

Answer 9

I wonder about the battery cables themselves.

Answer 10

clean the batt trminals and try again --use a wire brush and make sure they are tight --sounds a lil redneck to me