bad starter...or is it???

Duhhhhhhhhh....huh?

Geez, I wish I knew how to answer your question. If we were in person I could make the noise it makes, as if that would help.

If this is of any use, the first three went slowly, so we knew it was coming. It would take longer to crank and turn over, more tries were needed, but we knew it would eventually start because it sounded like it would if we just kept on trying. When they went they just made that horrible squealing noise they make when they're bad. The most recent one, just last weekend, just died straightaway. He put it in on Saturday and it quit on Sunday with no warning--it went straight into squeal mode.

Does that even remotely answer your question?

Lisa

Never buy a starter, alternator or battery from a junk yard. Buy them rebuilt.

Denny B

Still no guarantee.

I used up six different direct drive rebuilt starters and finally got ticked off enough to go to the wrecker and get a reduction gear starter. I drilled some of the holes to "fit" and it has worked fine for about 8 months now. The longest I ever got out of a rebuilt was 3 months. The shortest was a couple of weeks. The rebuilder was quite upset with quality control, but their problems turned out to be a REAL headache for me. $15 for the wrecker yard one versus about $100 for the rebuilt. One that works (so far) versus 6 that died.

Ken

Denny B wrote:

I'd prefer a junkyard starter etc. to an AutoZone "rebuilt." Only one I would really trust is one rebuilt by a shop with dusty wood floors and lathes, etc. on the premises.

nate

Denny B wrote:

Never say never. It all depends on the Junkyard you are going to. I'll take a late model, low mileage starter over a rebuilt one any day. Now, back to the original subject. Were there any shims on the original starter? If you don't know you need to make sure that the starter is engaging the flywheel properly. Wires need to be clean and attached properly. No bare spots, shorting out etc. Kinda hard to see this thing on the Net...

I find those GM starters are OK for about 100K or 10 years, which ever comes first. So how many miles is a junkyard starter going to have on it. Right. It's just about to quit. I use rebuilt starters from two small auto shops in my neighborhood. The last one cost me $38 for the rebuilt, exchange, including solenoid. I could rebuild it myself and do have one ready in the basement. I read many complaints about cheap rebuilds being useless, but my luck has been fantastic.

"Squeal" - Does it sound like the starter itself is spinning (free spinning and not coming in contact with anything)?? Or does it sound like two pieces of metal grinding together?

Squeal to me sounds like the solenoid isn't kicking out the starter gear to engage the flywheel. If it grinding, then it is possible that during one of the start installs, it wasn't lined up properly (sometimes you have to use shims) and that has damaged the flywheel. In that case, there's nothing wrong with the starters.

The only problem with that theory is, if the flywheel is damaged, it shouldn't start as soon as the starter is replaced.

Not much help, just thinking out loud.

I have read through this thread and ummm... You could be describing a battery issue by the sounds of it.

If the battery gets low from a lot of cranking on a bitchy to start engine (tune up time?), then the starter will go zinggg, zingggg, finally because there isn't enough power left to fire the gear out into the flywheel so it just spins in the air.

That is sort of what I think I am reading here. Am I close?

Meanwhile, a rebuild kit for a GM starter is less than $20.00 up here in Canada. Even just a new set of brushes from GM are less than ten bucks.

It is very easy to open up the starter and put a kit into it. You might need a soldering iron for the brushes wires, maybe not depending on the model. The nose has a bushing in it that comes with the kit and there are tricks for getting that out if it needs replacing.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Lisa wrote:

Any decent starter should last a good long while, but there are variables. Yes, if it had shims they need to be there for the correct mesh. The OP doesn't indicate an engagement problem. Another variable is how hard the vehicle is to start. I can flick my key and the engine is running. Lots of people end up grinding for many seconds. And some have multiple restarts. Each to his own on rebuilt or junk. Perhaps the poster could open up the bad starter and check for worn brushes. If they are worn out then it's just a matter of how many starts and how long to start. If the contacts in the solenoid are worn our they can easily be repaired often with no new parts. Diagnosis is the key, especially when a problem repeats itself.

-- Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:

"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . . Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House of Representatives, August 17, 1789