Starter troubles...

[YGETV8]

I bought an RX7/LC2 hybrid a couple months ago, and it has been having an increasing in occurence intermittent no-start problem. I thought it was a dead spot in the starter so I bought a new one from the "other" board and it's doing the same thing. The starter kicks out, but it doesn't engage the flywheel, just hits it. I have tried adding ground wires, shimming the starter (.050"!), using a battery charger on "start engine" and just now a different battery. Just don't see how it could be the same issue on two different starters? It also didn't do it for the first few weeks of ownership, and has gradually gotten worse, even with the new starter it has been occuring more and more often. I searched and saw where someone said that oil leaks can get into the starter and short it out (and this car does leak!)... does that sound feasible or like it would cause this problem? Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks, Jay

 

[YGETV8]

Figure I'll update in case anybody searches on this problem sometime. Thumbing through the Summit catalog I saw a starter solenoid "hot wire" kit from Painless Wiring for $25 and thought I'd give it a shot. Yes, I could have made one for about $12, but it was worth every penny as it did the trick! Apparently the factory wiring had become too weak to give the solenoid enough juice to kick it out hard enough for the gear to mesh with the flywheel then turn. This takes the signal from the ignition wire and jumps a relay that is right from the battery to the starter solenoid. Now... onto the next problem, but I'll save that for another post!