urbanglowcam

I recently changed the starter on my 05 due to the occasional screech on start problem. It fixed the sound issue and was working for months without issue.

This week the car wouldn't start. All electronics were working so I knew it wasn't the battery and was mindful of the fact I just changed the starter / alternator. As a last resort I tapped the starter under the hood with a ratchet and got it going again.

I guess that's the quick fix for starters that have a bad connection or faulty solenoid. The replacement part was a Denso remanufactured starter from partsgeek.com.

Since the car seems to be starting fine now, should I just leave it alone and keep driving it? Or do you recommend I go through the hassle of replacing the part again?

Soviet

You should verify that the connections are actually tight and good. I've had the starter nut come loose after I had replaced my own starter. This would make the car very hard to start.

I also have an issue where the electrical clip will sometimes disconnect after a hard drive. This would completely disable the starter. Thankfully I've gotten proficient at reaching my hand under the car and popping it back onto the starter.

So my advice is to possibly pop the alternator off and see if there is a blatant connection issue.

urbanglowcam

Thanks so much Soviet! I'll give that a shot. I was just concerned with going through the full process again since last time I broke the knock sensor.