troubles starting while warm?

[vinnY]

car seems to have some trouble starting while warm/hot but seems okay in the morning or after a long period of inactivity i.e. 3>hours
battery was just replaced about 5 months ago now

seem to get the infamous 'tick' when turning to II on the ignition
i've ripped out the main relay and reflowed the solder even though there were no dry joints there, doesn't randomly turn off while driving either
seems to take a few goes for it to actually turn over to fire up

just wanting to know if there's anything else i can do to make sure it's the starter motor or not

afaik if it didn't start at all either cold or warm/hot then it might be the battery
if it drops out while driving or won't restart while warm/hot then it may be the main relay

[na-118]

spark plugs, spark leads, test the alternator and starter with a multi

[bennjamin]

the tick is the starter solenoid -replace it or the starter

[vinnY]

so it's pretty definitive hey?
getting worse now, only starts when it feels like no matter whether it's hot or cold
just a loud tick from the outside and no juice

[bennjamin]

yup. power aint getting to the starter OR beyond the starter.replace battery and or starter with known good ones and ssee if it works

[bennjamin]

btw car starts fine with a push start/jump start ?

[vinnY]

well battery is under 6 months old so hopefully that's still fine cause i bloody lost the receipt already

when the bugger DOES kick over, it pretty much start up first time so i assume the battery is actually fine
haven't tried a push start though, nor have i done a jump start either
will have to dig up my multimeter to double check though, if only i bloody knew where i shoved it last

[-unknown-sss]

This sounds more electrical than mechanical. I will be looking at switching the main fuse relay with someone elses for a test. I will also perform a check with the alternator to see if the car is positively charging the battery.

[vinnY]

never mind had a mate from toyota hook me up with the bits i needed to get it working again
less then $40 later i had a working starter!

turns out the contacts that the plunger hits wore out
30 minutes of my time and i had some new ones in there
rear bolt on the starter is stupid. stupid stupid stupid.

[Limbo]

lol, i had this happen before also.

I brought a new battery for no reason also.

[vinnY]

oops i needed a new batt anyway, last one was showing 9v and wouldn't charge. cells had died or something

either way i'm happy now, starts good :)

[Limbo]

yeah an alternator kills ur batty after a while cos it doesnt charge it and you keep running it down. The car battery isn't like normal rechargables, it needs to be kept charged at all times otherwise it starts to fail

[vinnY]

well it's not that i was running it down, battery just died after 3 years
voltages seem okay and i haven't changed the alternator either