Like the title says, how do you know if you have a bad starter? Just asking, as my wife's car decided today to not start (in park or neutral).
I tried jumping it, and no change. I could just barely hear a faint click out of it when she tried to start it. Lights and everything else work like normal. I even smacked it with 2 blocks of wood, but no go. I'm thinking it finally gave up. It's 20 years old (at least I think it is), and has 240K+ miles, so I think it's done. I might see about doing a rebuild afterward though. We've had the car a little over 6 years now, and it's never failed to start before (except when I forgot to hook up the G101 wire after doing the EGR passage cleaning). Just thought I'd ask.

 

Probably the easiest way is to pull the parking brake, put on the parking brake, and turn the key to the II position. Connect a jumper cable to the connection for the blk/wht wire on the starter. Then touch the other end of the jumper cable to the + battery post. See if the starter spins.

The other way is to use a test light on that blk/wht wire after you disconnect it from the starter. Connect the other end of the test light to ground. If you have an assistant turn the key to the start position, the light should turn on.

I put a denso aftermarket starter in my Acura TSX (Euro style Accord) many years ago and have had no issues. I'd recommend a rebuild or Denso vs the stuff you get at the auto parts stores.

 

Thanks for the reply. We had it towed home last night (first time since we've owned it), and I picked up a starter fro O'Reilly's this morning to swap it out. That will give me time until I can get the old one apart and see whats up with it (I'm guessing brushes or a solenoid). This car gets used 7 days a week, and as it was my wife had to take the Geo Prizm this morning (vet appointment).

 

Changed it out, and mom's happy to have her car back. Still haven't taken it apart to see what was up though. It was a genuine Honda starter from 2000 though (it had a Honda sticker on it, and the bolts had never been out), and with 245K+ miles on it, I guess I can't complain.