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After two 3 hr legs I landed at my destination. Topped off and went to taxi to the tiedown area. When I tried to engage the starter all I heard was a single "click". Turned the master off and back on and tried again. Same results (a single "click"). As I recall, the voltage shows 23.8 volts. Any thoughts?? I'm six hours from my home station. Thanks.

How loud is the click? Can be solenoid or starter itself. Check big wire connection between the starter and the battery as well.

Tim, Sounds like the Starter itsef is the trouble maker. Had the same a few years ago, it happens allways away from homebase. I had to replace the starter. (it was on a C172 then).
Good luck. Thomas

I am afraid looks like a dead starter Tim. To make sure you can check voltage passage from the selenoid to the starter. If once you engage the ignition there is 24 V passed from selenoid to the sterter - then looks like confirmed, starter motor seems to be broken. Quite probably your starter is SkyTec 149-24LS.
Take care,
Bartek

Thanks for the replies. Just got off the phone with the A&P/IA. He cannot duplicate. He started it many times today without fail. Even ran it for awhile and got it hot and it restarted. Yesterday when I had my problem the plane was hot (6 hrs flying) and it was hot outside (91F). Not sure where to go from here. My battery is original (6 yrs old) so I'm thinking a new battery might be warranted when I get home.


Thanks again for all the replies.

Tim I am not an expert but here is my point of view. Engine starters use an electro-magnet to physically engage the starter motor. What you are describing sounds like a typical failure pattern of this solenoid. I would at the very least carry a spare starter along, or even preventively have it replaced. I have already seen the starter fail on a DA40, and it was making this same tick you describe.

That happened to my airplane at 100 hours ago at ~1600hrs. Same click sound. Starter motors is one of those things that can go out sometimes in airplanes

I had this happen with my plane at less than 10hrs a couple of times. It would just click and then nothing. A mechanic had a look at it and got it to work by touching the wire attachment points with a second battery. The starter jumped a bit, he put the cowl back on and everything was fine. However, my home base mechanic decided he didn't like what was happening and changed it a the 25hr check. He did say the starter can develop a bit of a dead spot or a burr that causes it not to work.

Had a similar thing happen in a DA-20 during my training. The big cable between the solenoid and the starter had a loose connection and not enough current could flow to the starter. The A&P tighthened the connection and everything was fine. Took 10 minutes to troubleshoot and fix.

Had a similar problem few flights ago. Arrived at the destination and when restarting to return 30 minutes later i heard the click and nothing. It seemed like a dead spot. I turned the prop just an inch and started again. It started right away and i haven't had a problem since.