Can a starter motor get "weak"?

wow, you're really not from this planet! and most certainly not anywhere near the solar system "engineer" or even the "curiosity" galaxy.

100% irrelevant drivel.

no, it's poor re-build. there shouldn't be any high spots on the contacts. if there are, because they're cheap, all the contact heat gets localized at the high spot [because it's the only point touching!] and as you have observed, local welding can occur. it's much more common than you'd think on high current poor quality rebuilds.

the return spring should be in good condition, and its slider free to move. sometimes a little lube on that can help significantly. don't over-do it though. copper powder from the contact break arcing that happens can accumulate and in worst case, create a conduction path.

get a boat battery isolator switch and wire that in instead. loose connections can land you in a whole different world of hurt involving batteries and alternators.

the very significant majority of problems with aftermarket rebuilds is poor quality resulting from cost cutting. a "chain store rebuild" for $150 with "lifetime warranty" is in fact a $50 rebuild with an appropriately expensive insurance policy attached. if someone wants to keep the vehicle on the road without the above kind of issue and the labor of regular replacements or other collateral damage, they're better advised to get a quality rebuild without the bullshit policy so that the money's actually going into the more expensive and thus durable/reliable componentry. s.d.'s admonition is 100 on target.

Not only is the brain dead respondent unable to accurately and consistently determine so much as the time of day (for just one of many, see his most recent example in his reply regarding the "PCV valve location" sent "before" the original post), he's also completely at a loss as to the cost of the starter (which wouldn't begin to flummox even a retarded 10 year old in a hurry), for which the OP paid ~ $50 (not $150) and yet he possesses the laugh inducing temerity and arrogance to actually offer advice.

apparently you can't read what i actually said.

is the fact that you have no technical contribution to offer related to the big yellow streak running down your back that apparently prevents you responding to people directly?

For those of us who can read, res ipsa loquitur; the OP clearly stated that he purchased a lifetime warranty unit. But pathetically feeble, failed attempts at deception and empty, self-aggrandizing claims, yet never anything of actual value, are all the inebriant's namesake has truly ever had to "contribute".

But only in his deluded reality.

No one could possibly make a competent, conclusive determination as to the quality of the internals of a rebuilt starter solely on a visual inspection of its externals while residing on a parts counter.

So decrees the circus clown.

One need do no more than to evaluate the credibility of a ranting and raving lunatic and consider the risible source.

True enough, but you can certainly rule out the total garbage.

I think the problem here is that you are a decade or so out of date and you have not seen the absolute trash that has been foisted on the public in the last five to ten years.

A decade ago your statements were pretty much correct, that you could wander in and order a generic rebuild and expect it to be decent. But those days are gone. They are gone like the passenger pigeon and the slide rule.

We now have rebuilds where metal pieces are replaced with plastic equivalents, copper alloys with as little copper as possible, diecast work where the original was machined. These things did not exist in the market a decade ago but they have now become very common.

It's not TOO hard to tell that the original had phosphor bronze bearings and the new ones are made of cartridge brass...

--scott

i respectfully disagree. there are many subtle differences that are telltales if you know what you're looking for.

easily.

you're confusing the parties here - i've been saying all along that modern high street rebuilds are crap.

yup

yup

that's not necessarily the end of the world. some of the taiwanese [thixoformed] "castings" give many formerly machines parts a serious run for their money. especially if the old part was made from a "free machining" alloy.

believe it or not, the alloy isn't as important as its forming method - what matters for bushings is that they're porous [sintered] and oil impregnated. or better yet, made of steel and called "ball bearings".

my biggest compliant is where they don't even attempt to rebuild to oem spec. i've seen alternators with aluminum slip rings for instance. i mean, that's just insulting.

um, you're posting from the wrong account "winston" - too busy showing your yellow streak again.

First off, after that initial glitch, the rebuilt starter is working great! The engine cranks like new. But another problem has cropped up. When driving in 25mph traffic lately, the engine has died several times. There is no coughing or sputtering, just a clean, sudden death. On this

87 Dak, could this be coil related? I suspect the coil because I had this same problem a couple or three years back. I have four coils, an MSD coil, an Accel coil and two coils from Kragen's/O'Reilly's. I gave up on the MSD and Accel coils because the Accel coil burned out and the MSD coil ran super hot, even with a ballast resistor. I could have had any of these coils installed when the engine was stalling 2 or 3 years ago, I wasn't keeping track. It could have been the one I have installed now. The engine starts up with no problem, plugs are good, wires are good, cap and rotor are good, vacuum at idle is 20 psi, carb is a Holley 2280, new old stock less than three years old, engine passed California smog less than a year ago. The original Hall effect module failed and the engine stalled in the same way then that it is stalling now, but back then, the engine would not restart immediately. After 5 to 20 minutes the engine would restart. But now the engine restarts immediately after stalling.

A new coil is about $18, a new Hall effect pickup about $25. It seems to me that it could be either of these components. I will probably try a new coil first.

Jack

Just want to add that engine runs like a top other than the stalling issue.

That it quickly restarts can make trouble shooting fun. Could be the ignition switch, neutral safety switch, other bad electrical contact, sediment in the tank or float bowl ... On the positive side, with a vehicle of that vintage, I'd think that a salvage yard, particularly one of the pull-it-yourself variety, would likely have easily removed and quite inexpensive replacement parts to try.

Kill the erroneous NSS possibility, much have been temporarily thinking that it was a no start issue in the back of my mind.