Ok so my friend replaced his starter with one he got from pep boys. The thing with the gear that pops out to the fly wheel is well not popping out. We checked it with some jumper cables to the battery and it spins but will not pop out. He took it to pep boys they connected something to it and tested it the same way we did and it popped out.
When it was on the car and we turn the key it would not make that click sound and when we did get it crank it would only make the winding sound from the little gear on the starter.
What are we doing wrong?
We even checked his volts with the Cobb AP and we got 10 to 13 could the car battery be bad? its only 5 months old and was charged 4 days ago. Or could the car alternator be bad?

 

If you have a volt meter, check the level on the starter power lead. You must have a bad connection somewhere. Check the battery connections, the ground wire, the full length of the "hot" wire. Also, check the signal wire that goes to the starter. There are 2 different types of starter solenoids. One is called a Bendix. It engages just by spinning. The other is electrically engaged. You will know this because the starter has 2 wires going to it. Check the smaller wire and see if you get voltage to this spot when you try to start the car. I haven't checked to see which type is on a RX8.
BTW, if you can't get a meter, you can add some wires to an automotive light bulb (eg. tail light, brake light) and use that to test for voltage. The brightness of the bulb will indicate how much voltage there is . Just touch one wire to ground and the other to the point you want to test.

 

Right a white wire and a black one connect to the starter. Dang. I'm going to pick up a obd2 reader that reads everything at checker tomorrow.

 

An ODBII reader won't help you with this problem.

 

I know i just feel better saying that. Why? because it makes me feel better

 

I was just about to post this for the kid. You beat me to it.

 

^

How do we check the starter power lead and where is it? what kind of numbers or volts should we be looking for?

How do I check the starter with a volt meter? He got shocked when the starter was on the car and the battery connected lol so does that mean the 2 wires going to the starter are getting proper voltage? or no?
Sorry for all the questions but i never used a voltage meter, guess i could google it all but what the hell, lets see what others have to say

 

Easiest way to test your battery and alternator is to go to you local autoparts store like auto zone or advance auto parts. They will check and test them for free

 

What was the initial behavior or symptom (Reason for starter purchase)? Why would anyone buy a starter for an RX8 at Pep Boys? Rotary engine vehicles MUST have sufficient cranking speed and even the original Mazda starters may be less than optimal for the task.

Is the motor (Engine in this case) actually spinning but not coming 'to life' ?

Paul.

 

What he was saying was that the starter motor spins. But, it doesn't engage the flywheel. So, for some reason, the signal to trigger the solenoid isn't being sent.

 

Sounds like a bad rebuilt starter.

 

Or the solenoid itself has failed, which is often the culprit.

OP: get a known good, uprated, starter from Mazmart, not some Pep Boys 'special.'

 

1. The car was having a hard start.
2. I dont know lol its not my car its my friends. Budget?
3. At first we can hear the starter motor spinning but it doesn't engage with the flywheel. Then we stoped dbl checked everything and when we tryed to start it again it would just lick like the car was flooded and we could not even hear the starter at all
So we took the starter to autozone and they tested the starter and the little gear popped out like its supposed to.

Oh yeah we took the plugs out cus the car flooded due to low car battery or bad starter so we changed them out.

I dont get it

 

Well, then obviously your battery wasn't/isn't putting out enough voltage/current to energize the solenoid properly. Also, your alternator should be putting out ~14 volts to properly charge the battery.

 

He took the battery in to have it tested today and its good.

 

If the battery's good (bench tested) and the starter is good (bench tested) then I guess it would have to be the wiring harness. btw: the starter is always electrically "hot."

 

It sounds like the battery is too weak to engage the gear.

If your connections are nice and tight, try a boost from another car - if that gets the starter to engage, it's the battery.

Often the shop will 'test' batteries by just checking the volts, which is meaningless. You have to have lots'o'amps and minimal voltage drop to start properly.

 

^Tryed that too. AJ had me pull my 8 up and jump Den's 8. Oh and I have a red top.

 

Manual? You know what I'm going to say

 

^ yes it is

 

I believe he wants us to pop the clutch. I'm sitting in the drivers seat I got the bad leg.

 

Yep...if the alternator is good it will start and run with a poor battery and starter wiring.

It will also unflood it easily if that is your problem

If you try and pull start it and it doesn't start...you need to look different places for the problem

 

Well he tryed that and his house is on a hill so I think we have to start looking into different places for the problem