Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My father has this rather odd habit of starting a car up. He turns the key onto on, but doesn't hold it long enough to start the car. He'll get it the second time, sometimes on the 3rd try. It's annoying and I'm worried that it might damage the starter. Should I be concerned about this? I have a relatively "new" car and he's so worried about not damaging it that he will end up damaging something.
I have a feeling that a lot of new cars disable the starter after the car fires up. My car is a 2005 and nothing happens if I hold the key in the start position for longer than I need to.
I'd be very annoyed if someone routinely took 3 tries to start my car.
My father has this rather odd habit of starting a car up. He turns the key onto on, but doesn't hold it long enough to start the car. He'll get it the second time, sometimes on the 3rd try. It's annoying and I'm worried that it might damage the starter. Should I be concerned about this? I have a relatively "new" car and he's so worried about not damaging it that he will end up damaging something.
It's possible that he is damaging the starter. But based on this habit (probably developed 50 years ago), he's probably in his final years of driving. If it shortens the life of the starter by a year or two, it's not a big deal.
Also, he's your dad. My dad now does things that are "less than stellar" regarding his vehicles. But they're his vehicles, it's his money, and I'm not willing to insult him about stuff, so I let it go.
I use to live beside an elderly man who would start his car in the dead of winter and immediately rev the crap out of the car!
All I could think of was the poor oil wasn't getting up to the heads fast enough and he was torturing that motor...sadly he died before the motor.
I can even tell where the habit is coming from. My 1st car in the USA was 84 Buick Century. Well, thing is, it had 2 fuel pumps. One in tank and priming pump in carburetor. Just turning the key wouldn't start the car, as there was not enough fuel. What you had to do was to sit and listen for about 15 seconds, for the priming pump to stop working - little tsa-tsa-tsa coming from under the hood - and THEN start the engine.
I figure, your dad had one of those, that had to be cranked several times to get it going and it stuck to him.
Did you actually try asking him why? That may be an eye opening conversation.
Oh, and do not forget. YOU will become a person of habit eventually too. So take it easy.
Could be Dad is used to starting cars with weak batteries, and is trying to minimize the electrical draw. BTDT.
FWIW, on my 2008 Ford, it doesn't matter how short or long the key is turned to "start", the car's computer takes over and runs the starter for as short or long a time as needed to start engine. In the winter, I have let go of key and the starter still runs until engine starts. IOW, all the key is doing is asking the PCM to start the car. Almost all switches and knobs work this way now. Gas pedal too, called "fly by wire". Everything goes thru the PCM.
There is one potential problem with this habit. I could damage the flywheel ring that has the teeth that engage the starter. While the starter drive is a relatively modest repair, the flywheel ring necessitates the removal of the transmission from the engine. That's major bucks. I suppose he can do what he wants with his own car but I would be reluctant to lend it to someone who does it my vehicle.
A majority of engines today are four cylinder engines. The four cylinder is inherently unbalanced although they can counterbalance the engine to minimize the effect. As a result it tends to stop at the same place on the flywheel so just a few teeth are being continually used.
I had to replace a flywheel ring many years ago on a Datsun we had. It kept getting worse to the point it had to be done. In that case, it was a rear wheel drive and it was merely necessary to pull the transmission back and out of the way to get to the flywheel using a transmission jack. (Don't try to hold it up or you will likely get injured or tear something up.) With most cars being front wheel drive, it is a major problem as the transmission, engine and half shafts to the front wheels are all sort of bound up together it should only be done by those with the expertise to do it right without tearing something else up.
There are two ways to damage a starter motor - start using it, which wears the teeth, and keep using it, which burns up the starter motor.
So, you want to use the starter once to start the engine, and save the teeth, and you want to stop using the starter once the engine kicks over, so you don't burn its motor out. Starting the motor and wearing the teeth is the more damaging item, so your dad is effectively wearing out the starter motor at 2x or 3x normal if he keeps short-starting it.
Fyi some modern cars have a single-start system, so once you flip the key over you don't have to hold it to keep the starter motor going. Even better are the cars with the start button you only have to tap.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
