Urgent! Starter ???

[doitmyself]

Be careful not to have this turn into that recent Honda civic case here where all the obvious causes were not checked first. Don't jump to conclusions.

Don't ignore Tosh's advice above: "So you need to first determine if the high current-carrying wires and ground have low enough resistance and good connections. Try paralleling the wires with jumper cables to see if it makes a difference". It could be a dying starter AND a bad wire - the jumper test might not work.

A year ago I installed two rebuilt starters and thought I got duds. Turned out to be internal main wire corrosion that didn't allow enough current to pass to the starter. The starters died about one week after installed. The wire was the underlying cause, but the rebuilts worked for a week before the low amps killed them.

 

[johnd]

Got a hammer? Whack the starter a couple of times on the side and see if it starts then. If it does, you found your problem. I pulled into a gas station in Houston some years ago and went to start the truck and no go. I hit the starter and got it to work, made the job on time and changed the starter out when I got back to Austin.

 

[m2200b]

JohnD- that still a great test for starters and a life saver if you're stuck away from home. At home I'd use a 2 X4 as you don't really need as much force as the hammer

 

[kgb007stb]

One reason why it started may have been due to the way the starter spins down after a start. Since most new starters use planetary gears they could have aligned properly and engaged on the first try. Another possibility is that the brushes due to their age/wear tear could not come into full contact with the starter thus causing greater resistance. Greater resistance causes heat which eventually semi-melts the brushed. The melted material is usually deposited onto the comutator and either the melted material causes further resistance, thus heat buildup causing a gradual destruction of the starter, or the melted material bond to some of the comutator fields causing a mini short which decreases the magnetic field (emf) that can be produced by the whining thus causing the starter to fail. On to of that, as starter bearings age, grease seeps out, combine that with dust and it settles between the comutator separators causing a semi-short as well reducing the life of the starter.

Today’s starters do not last as long as they use to because manufacturers are forced to save on space, weight and so on. Thus the introduction of the permanent magnet starters in the 1990’s. The older style positive engagement starters were heavier, bulkier but so simple that if one cleaned the comutators, one could last the lifetime of the vehicle. Due to the limitations of today’s starters, I replace mine every 100k miles regardless.

 

[Junior]

Quote:

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Due to the limitations of today’s starters, I replace mine every 100k miles regardless.

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10 years, 150,000 miles and no problems.