NOTE: Also make sure to check battery cables and wires for lose connections. Make sure the battery has a good connection to the starter. If none of this works then you may have to replace the starter ;(

Sir!!!!!! YOU ARE THE MAN!!! I just got off work, worked late, made a couple of stops, now its 12 am, super tired, stopped at a gas station now truck wont start. Watched your video and now i get to go home..

This video was seriously our life line just moments ago we broke down in the middle of no where with a special needs kid in tow. Triple AAA was not getting back to us and we had no idea when they’d arrive. But you seriously saved us! You are heaven sent! Thank you and blessings to you!

Lmao. You jumped back quick when checking the solenoid and the starter clicked!! Scared my ass too. 😂

Just wanted to say thank you. Son who is 500 miles away at college was stranded. He has a 2008 F150. Sent him your video and he made it back to campus and to a mechanic to replace his starter. Great video. Thank so much.

You can tell this guy has mastered the art of trial-and-error I love it I love every bit of it hes the man

Man, you just saved my butt with that secondary solenoid trick. Got me back on the road again after the started unexpectedly died.

This is good to know. I need a new Starter but can't afford a tow truck. Thank you for this video!

Daddy always said, if it don't work, beat on it with a hammer until it does!!.. woohoo got me home for a lot less than a tow truck!! Thanks!!

I've never commented on a KZfaq video before but I did the trick of banging on the starter and a got my work truck . Thanks

This video comes up while I'm stranded with a starting problem. WTF. I bang the starter. Nope. But, the starter solenoid head is loose. I move it to a snug position. Wah-la. Thanks brother.👍

Good basic info on how to troubleshoot and how to get it running. Old tricks still work. My Dad taught me these tricks 40 years ago. I'm so happy that in todays day and age that we have You Tube where there is a wealth of knowledge being shared. Thank you for sharing and helping people.

Finally! I finally find a realistic tip on how to, do it YOURSELF auto lesson, WITHOUT all of these mechanics pulling out all of their professional tools, that most of us, auto do it yourselfers probably won't have. Then you have to find a ride to the auto parts store, for a loaner, only to find out that they don't have it. Thank You, Nathan Rohrbough, for your easy, very clearly explained starter, no crank tip. I have a 09 Chrysler T&C, 3.8l. Since I noticed bad worn out motor mounts, I hope, worse case, motor not locked. I had to buy brand new tires last week, since we have grandkids, safety first. Since my lay-off, I can only afford 1 repair, every 2 months. Anyway, I'll try jumping solenoid first, battery reading 12.5V on my multi meter. Thanks again, Frank

You just saved me from a $450 tow!!! Thank you! It really did work.

You Sir, are a legend. I couldn't find any more direct and no nonsense video but yours. I have just solved my no crank, no start Hyundai accent 2009. Thank you and more power!

lol it really works, went out for errands came back to my car, car had power but starter wouldn’t turn over. i carry a small battery jumper. tried that no luck. checked fuses, all fine. had no tools. so i picked up a stick an tapped on the solenoid. car started right up. man was i happy. an the replacement was super easy in my case.

Buddy, my car never has videos specifically for it. THANK YOU FOR HAVING THE SAME ENGINE AS ME

Shorted out the starter solenoid and got my 2020 Ram 2500 started when we were stranded at the campground. Thank you sir!!!!!

Sir, thanks to you we finally got our diesel pusher motorhome up and running. We were boondocking at a remote location and no tow truck was willing to come out. The one that was willing to come out would take several days. We found you after 3 days of trying what we could and pulling out our hair cuz nothing else worked. Your hack with the screwdriver saved us a lot of money & time. Thank you!

Great hack, Nathan! Props for showing your older starters. That helps with the visualization a lot!

I wanted to leave a comment saying my starter was all gravy but my starter battery cable was bad and I got stuck a gas station if u didn't post this video I wouldn't of ever figured out how to jump the starter to get my start running. Thank you thank you thank you. This was the most informative video Ive seen that wasn't a ChrisFix video.

Great video! Another tip: that upper solenoid where he jumps it out with the screwdriver. If you put your key into the ignition to the start position (MAKE SURE VEHICLE IS IN PARK) you can start it by jumping out the solenoid if you let the motor turn over long enough (about 3-5 seconds) . Should start every time just make sure you’re in park.

Thank you ever so much. Why are strangers on KZfaq kind and helpful than people that live in your own neighborhood?! I live in Cheyenne Wyoming by the way.

I have known this trick for over 40 years (damn I am old) and it has served me well and I just had to do this on my Subaru Tribeca last night. Great video.

Thank you! We really appreciate your help. Video's like this make KZfaq great

This video seriously solved my problem. Was stuck in the grocery store parking lot, car made a clicking, some guy told me it was the starter (okay) but wanted to know more, saw this video, did the battery check talked about in the beginning, and sure enough, the juice was starting to die down. So went to the car parts store, got a jumper battery for emergencies and car started! Saved me money and was great for an independent woman! Thank you 😁👍

Thanks for not wasting our time with too much chatter! Very good video.

Yo Nathan man you are a genius thanks man I’m going to go try it out I’ll give u the feed back 🙏

Happened to me today. Closing up our summer camp, loaded my F150 full bed.....had just moved my truck closer to the porch door. And exactly this happened. I crawled under and tapped the starter with hammer but nothing. Did not know about shorting the firewall solenoid so tomorrow that's my next move, and then get a new starter motor. Thanks for a great vid.

Great video. I have not had to do this since the 90's so a little recap was perfect for me. Thank you for taking the time in making this video

I never, commented on the video before also and I just want to say thank you man because of you I was able to get my car started my Toyota Corolla 06 . I tapped it with a hammer

I was trying to do this yesterday on my truck I know starts every time once it doesn’t start by doing this and my friend I was with totally gave up on me and wouldn’t believe me this works and I needed him to only turn the key and he wouldn’t even help me! Time to attempt it again with a better more useful friend! It starts every time after tapping! Best hack ever!

Hey dude thank you for this, this was so well said thanks for simplifying things, much appreciated. God Bless.

Ive watcched severeal youtubers on this and you make it so easy for me to unserstand , Thank You ! 🙏💝💝

Happend to my car was gping tp get it towed. But tow truck driver checked it real quick and tapped it a few times and it started he didnt charge me but i gave him 40 saving half for a tow thank god he was coo abojt it

Thank. Youuuuu!! It just worked on my 2005 MDX. I've had a "lagging?" starter for a while now, but the day has come when I was, JUST stranded. Banged it from the underside a few taps 2X, started up, and got me home ever so grateful. (now, if I could only replace it myself ..🤔) TY. Good day to you 🙌

Your video is so HELPFULL! I just hit my starter with my rachet then it work! Thank you

Want to let people know, the AAA guy tried this on my car today & IT WORKED!!!! I was about 20 miles away from my hometown... 😲 Thankfully "tapping" the starter with a metal pipe WORKED, because otherwise I would've needed to pay like $100.00 out of pocket for the towing distance- Plus, I was in a covered parking garage, & it would've been difficult for a flat-bed to try and even "get in" to tow my car! 😟

In my case recently it turned out it was the ignition switch itself, not the starter. I got back home by fiddling with turning my key to exactly the right spot. There was a tiny spot where the car would start as usual (if I could find it and hold the key there a couple of seconds). 2002 Subaru Impreza.

Thanks for the video. Great tips that have worked for me a couple of times (especially when I was in college with a 1962 Hillman Minx). Thanks for throwing in the tip about the fuel pump cooling by gas. I tell my kid not to let the gas go below a quarter tank just in case.

Tapping my starter worked for me earlier. My dad told me about it. His idea was that you needed to have a second person cranking the thing while you're tapping it though but like you, I got my car to start on my own. Can't do both at the same time on your own lol. With a manual car, parking on a hill and leaving off the clutch in second gear after you get up a bit of speed works too but you already know that lol.

This video helped me Diagnosed the problem, after trying to trip the starter there was a broken wire connecting to the starter. I had my son start the car while pushing the wire against the starter and it started right up

Man I can't believe this worked honestly I was 20 miles away from the nearest town, surprisingly enough I had more or less the right tools to get it done

Used to do that with my Chevy truck. Had a gutless that had a visible link that burned out, couldn't get to it easily so I installed a starter remote. Worked like a charm

Thank you! Saved me after a cold night and no start!

Thanks for the vid & the tips!

Wow! Thanks! Going to work on my 2004 Ford Expedition tomorrow.

I totally subscribe love that this is one of the first video that I could actually see what you were doing and explained it in detail in layman's everyday terms thank you great post very helpful

Honestly helped me out so much, thank you

I have a manual (UK) gearbox. If my starter won't turn I bump start it. If I'm not on a hill to let it roll I put it in reverse gear and push car forwards/ backwards a little to rock it free, or I try 1st gear and push forwards and backwards to rock it free - always works :)

Thanks gonna give all this a shot

Helpful information, thank you for sharing !!

Thanks! Great video and tips!

Thank u so much. My starter started giving me trouble a month ago and I have had to call my road side rescue, I saw him tap something but didn't know where or what it looked it looked like. I just went out and tried it and boom, away she went. Been late to work etc but I now know thanks to you. A new starter is just out of my reach right now. Thanks again 👍👍

My wife's starter just conked out on her this morning 2001 Dodge Caravan 3.3, 9 degrees outside too brrr!! I tried whacking it from the front and got nothing, not too much leverage either. You gave me an idea though, gonna try to whack it from the wheel well with a skinny pipe. Thanks

Thanks. Worked on my tractor too!

Ty. Second starter vid I've seen. No nonsense and straight to business.

A wealth of knowledge! Every issue that you hit on dead-on accurate! And the way you worded everything was so professional and easy for Shadetree mechanics like myself. Thank you for the great video! And I have a question my starter had totally stopped I just had a click. I tapped mine using the metal rod and Hammer technique. And then I noticed where someone had hit it before. This is where the tricky thing comes on I've had the truck for 4 years! And never gave me any problems unless they rebuilt this starter I suspect they had a problem with it before whoever the previous owner was and I tapped mine like I said tapped a little harder than maybe I should have but it did the trick 12 Cycles and no lag no strain on the starter. Could it possibly be it just had rust in it? Like I said it looks like somebody had done this before. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated and like I said great video keep them coming I just subscribed

Moments ago my starter wouldn’t turn over. Tapped starter with pipe and car started. Thanks.

Great video well i am gonna go try that now cause my wife brought some young ppl home and need to go back out to retrieve something from garbage and take the young ppl home as well so hope this works

Man, damn good video. I wrecked my truck in the snow. I’m gonna go through these steps today and I’ll let you know if it worked but I’m sure it will.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION, I'M having this problem now. I'm going to do this.

Shalom Aleichem. I'm a 68¾ year old retired mechanic on disability and that's an old trick that's saved my ass many time's over the year's. Always carry a hammer amongst your tool box in your trunk. If it's a stick shift tranny all ya gotta do if you're parked on a hill is put it in 2nd gear, turn on the key and roll appropriately 50 feet or so and dump the clutch and it should start. Ratson haba b'shem YaHuah

2006 bmw X3, whacking the starter with a short piece of rigid pipe did the trick! Thank you so much!

This happened to me 2 months ago. To my surprise, I have noticed that if I shift to Neutral while turning the key, it starts every time. No idea if that can be damaging to the car or not, but.. IT STARTED! lol

You sir are a professional i had to do this on my 2006 lincoln town car 🚗

It doesn't always work but if you're stuck somewhere it's worth a try. Much cheaper than a tow truck!

I think the idea of using a stick or hammer to hit the starter is to make all mechanical parts of the starter : plunger, shift lever and contact disc to be in "normal" position so that when the terminal S gets power from ignition switch, the resulting magnetic field can pull the plunger to enable contact disc to make electrical contact to both terminal B and M of the starter, while at the same time this motion of the plunger causes the starter drive to move into mesh with the flywheel ring gear. So this trick makes sense, although not recommended, unless in emergency and we are ready to replace the starter someday.

When I was in high school I drove a 1976 GMC truck with a failing starter. If I couldn't get it to start I would have to crawl under the truck and strike the starter housing with a trailer hitch ball. A few taps later, I would crawl back out and try to start the truck. It might take 2-3 tries, but eventually I would get it started. When we finally found time and money to pull the starter and rebuild it we found the brushes were worn down so far that the screws holding the brushes in place were partially worn away. As my mom always used to say, "Poor people have poor ways!"

Thank you very much! Another guy saved by your video!

Thank you for your help! 😉

This process worked on the second try... Thank you very much for the video.

💚 I forgot about this trick. I'll try tomorrow...

Thanks excellent video hope you can do this more than once I just used this technique hot it started but realized it's holiday so everything is closed. Lol hope it works tomorrow

When COLD can't start without banging it, but warmer weather rarely have starting problem.

Thank you! This video saved me!

This is me in my driveway right now, I guess this is a Ford thing. Very straightforward yet detailed enough for us home mechanics. Also good editing. Fingers crossed.

I just got a 2002 Chevrolet Impala and looks like I'll need to try this out. More on that later.

Thanks!!! Totally just saved my butt from being stranded clear across town on a Sunday night!!

Best video not messing up engine compartment

I use the jumper box made sure the cables were clean and just hit some random things thank you thank you now I can make it to my mechanic

The hammer trick worked for me! Thanks for the hack. It allowed me to drive home. However, it is not a long-term solution. It barely worked the second time (so I could pull the car into the garage and change out the starter there).

another way to check the starter if it's bad is use a multimeter. By putting one of the lead wires on the disconnected signal(trigger)wire, and the other lead on the negative battery post. Then have someone turn the ignition key, if you get 12 volt reading on the voltmeter that means 12 volts is reaching the starter, so the starter is bad.

You saved my day, great video, thank you so much!!!

Thanks couldn't get my truck to start for 3 days hammerd the starter fires up every time now

That was an awesome 👌 video, thank you there was a loft of knowledge and this video helped 💯

Good trick! Helped me get my truck home. Thank you

Another cause can be the security system lockout. I have a 2002 f150 that will not crank with the key unless the Key Fob disarms the security system. Its an OEM security system, before I figured out what was going on, I would periodically unlock the vehicle with the key, and I wouldn't crank, I too thought it was the firewall solenoid and replaced it but the problem returned. I could jump the firewall solenoid and it would start in this situation, but the key would not activate the start sequence until I hit lock and unlock on the key fob and then it would function appropriately.

Thank you very, I have experienced such problem, after watching your video I sort out my problem

The ol' hit it with a stick method. Love it!

Thank you man it works👍

Good job brother 🔧🔧

today I learned this on my 2002 civic. when some guy helped me hit starter when stuck far late night from home .got started n reached

Thank you sir! Although I own a 2003 Ford Explorer XLT which has a slightly different setup in terms of parts and locations. But thankfully with your video and tips provided helped pointed me into the right direction 👍once again thank you i was beginning to panic! Take care God bless 🙌

I just put one kick off cable to alternator and turned key and it started. Any metal touching alternator or starter looks while cranking probably work

I appreciate the fuel pump advice!

Got me home thanks buddy

Very helpful on my 2001 expedition.My starter is getting soaked in oil damn.thanks for the info man

Thanks, I'd forgotten al about this. My Father show me years ago.

Thank you so much for making this video you saved me