96 s10 Starter

My starter on my 1996 s10 2.2 auto has been starting to act strange. it turns over the truck fast when it works. When it does not, it either does not kick in and does spin or will kick in for a second or so and kick out before the motor starts. Can the solenoids on these starters be repaired? maybe lubed or adjusted? Anyone run into this? It seem like the solenoid is not holding in the gear sufficiently. ______________________________________________________

If an S10 starter is built like the GM starters I have seen, it has a solenoid attached directly to the starter. The solenoid makes the high-current connection to run the starter, and it also provides the power to shove the starter pinion gear into the flywheel gear.

The problem described could be caused by a defective solenoid. It is cheap and easy to replace with the starter out of the car.

The problem could be caused by a poor starter cable connection. Clean and tighten all connections.

The problem could also be caused by a defective ignition switch which is intermittent in the start position, or even a defective neutral interlock switch. Check these switches first.

Good luck.

Rodan. ____________________________________________________

The solenoid often goes bad before the starter itself. You could take it apart and bebuild it or they are fairly cheap. But if that starter has miles on it, I'd be replacing the whole assembly with rebuilt. Any GM starter with 100K on it is toast in my opinion and experience. This applies to the type you have and not certain newer models. You do not want to risk damaging the flywheel for the low cost of a starter.

Ditto on Al's suggestion--just compare the cost of a new solenoid to cost of a rebuilt starter complete w/new solenoid. Merely a few $'s diff. Not worth the gamble, in my opinion, on MY labor. s

Well, O'reilys:

Solenoid: $ 59 rebulit starter $109

roughly x2

Bob