[superdave555]

I thought that was what it was and in my researches had determined that the solenoid is not replaceable individually and I would probably have to replace the whole thing. The car is in the shop today and a starter is being overnighted. A little painful on the wallet but these things happen. I still love my car.

Originally Posted by JaySVX

I've had that exact issue on my nissan altima. There's two parts to the starter, the tiny gear that's connected to the electric motor, and the solenoid. What happens is when you hit the starter the solenoid engages and pushes the gear out to engage and turn the engine over, then the electrical motor activates and spins it to turn the engine over. When you have an almost dead battery and you just hear the clicking noise, it's the solenoid pushing that little gear out, but the electric motor not turning due to lack of juice.

What it sounds like in your car is the little gear engaging, and spinning, but the solenoid is shot, and not pushing the gear out to make contact with the large gear to turn the motor over. BEWARE! With that electric motor spinning, without the resistance of the motor, it's going extremely fast, and iwll burn out quickly. You can remove your starter and check eelctrical contacts tot he solenoid, youc an hook 12v up to it, and see if it kicks out and starts spinning to troubleshoot it. Chances are you'll have to replace the starter though, as i'm pretty sure youc annot change out the solenoid individually. Good luckw ith your troubles,a ndi f you have any other questions let me know.