Oil on starter?

Question

Well, about a week ago my jeep died. The next day, I was able to get it started and off to the nearest auto parts store. He did a diagnosis, and st said that my battery was nearly dead, and that my alternator and starter were fine. After he replaces the battery, I noticed that it was still a bit sluggish to start up. He looked at my starter, and said it was "saturated" with oil. There are 2 bolts that he suggests tightening ( I haven't tightened them yet due to my inexperience and my boyfriend is 100 miles away) The vehicle has ran pretty fine the past few days, but has pooped out on me today. I cant get it started. What exactly does oil on the starter do? If the starter is indeed the issue, why did the diagnosis machine say it was fine?

Answer 1

I imagine that the auto parts guy was trying to say is that the battery is losing voltage from the oil that is creating a path for the voltage to drain out. I, as an electrician, kind of find it a little hard to believe that a little bit of oil is causing this problem. I would think that you may have a something else that is wrong with the jeep. I would get an multimeter and connect it to the battery, when that jeep was running, and check to see if the alternator is really running correctly. Sometimes the alternator will periodically work like it's supposed to and freak out later. I would also check the voltage regulator, that can also drain a batter out. I would also recheck the starter, just jump it out with a set of jumper cables. I've seen cars that have had a crap load of oil on the starters and it ran fine. I have a question, does the car make a buzzing noise when it tries to start? What about the starter, it might be going out, there could be dirty contacts/brushes on the starter.

Answer 2

The starter was probably fine when it was tested a few days ago. Since the bolts were not tightened, more oil probably dripped onto the starter. More than likely, the oil shorted the starter out.