Weird situation: On an out of town trip, my daughter's 1990 civic suddenly overheated. The temp gauge quickly rose and steam came from under the hood. They pulled over immediately, but did notice the car seemed to idle/run fine (no noises) until they got all the way pulled over and turned it off. I don't think the car was run other than to pull it over to the side of the road.

They waited quite a while before trying to start the engine again, maybe an hour. When they tried to start, a whining sound seemed to come out of the starter, but the engine did not crank over. A NAPA guy who heard the sound said they needed a new starter, but it would be a few days for the part to arrive.

OK, dad to the rescue. I piled my tools into the car, found a local NAPA with the starter in stock, and set off on an hour trip to help them out.

There was coolant in the overflow, but the radiator took about 1/3 to 1/2 gallon of water in the radiator. Low, but not bone dry. Listened to the whiny starter and decided to replace it with the one I brought. Originally planned to take the old starter to have it tested before installing the new, but the auto stores were now closed. So, two bolts and two terminal connections and this car is back on the road - Right? - Wrong!

Installed the new starter. Seemed to be an exact replacement - same shape, same bolt pattern, just a starter motor with a solenoid piggy-backed on the side - two bolts and two terminals (one spade lug, one terminal ring). Now, a third terminal ring/lug came already connected between the starter motor and solenoid. I did not touch that connection. So, bolts are tight and terminals installed.

Here's the good part - I reconnect the positive battery terminal, then try to connect the negative terminal. As soon as I touch the negative cable to the battery terminal the starter kicks in and whines like before, but engine does not crank - VERY WIERD. The key is out of the igition and the ignition switch is in the off position.

Electrically, it seems like a switch/relay is shorted in the on position or there is now a direct connection to the battery. After re-inspecting the starters, I found one annomoly. The two terminal rings/lugs on the solenoid are height offset by about 1/2 inch, but the difference between the two starters is the 'taller' terminal is on the opposite side. They are swapped.

For example. If you hold both starters directly in front of you with the smaller spade terminal in the middle, the old starter's 'tall' terminal is to the left of the middle terminal, but on the new starter the 'tall' terminal is to the right of the middle terminal. Did also find a 'C' and an 'S' stamped near the terminals of the old starter. Remember that on the new starter one wire/terminal/lug came already connected and there was only one place to connect the loose terminal.

I know this is a ton of information, but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

txgreasemonkey

It sounds like the NAPA starter motor is not an identical match. That's why it's best to take the old part with you to the parts store, to ensure the replacement is identical. Some Hondas have starter motors made by Nippondenso, Mitsuba, and Hitachi, for instance.