73 odd starter issue .. Help Please

These two links might help:

Speedy Jim Electronic Whiz the other day my starter seemed to give out.. so I bought a

Are you saying that the new starter behaves the same way the old one did?

See my sketch of how to jumper the starter terminals:

More on the workings of the starter on Dragenwagen's page: The solenoid has 2 separate functions.

1) It closes the main contacts which connect the battery to the starter motor. The starter begins to spin.

2) About the same time, the solenoid mechanically "throws" the small pinion gear on the starter shaft right into the flywheel teeth.

It sounds like your starter isn't "throwing" for some reason or not far enough, or the flywheel is messed up, or you have the wrong starter.

You can have a good look at the flywheel simply be removing the starter.

Long shot, but I would give the crank endplay a check. Push/pull the crank pulley (hard). It should only move a hair's width. If it moves much more (like 1/4"), the engine has a problem.

You can't really test the starter motor off the car because the shaft will have no outer support. You could, however, test just the solenoid action. Don't connect the battery cable to the big stud on the solenoid. Connect jumper cable to starter frame and the other cable to the push-on connector on the solenoid. The pinion should leap out but the starter not spin.

It's recommended that the shaft bushing inside the bellhousing be replaced when changing the starter, but it doesn't sound like that is your problem.

Post back anything you find.

Speedy Jim

So the resolution and what I think happened..

I had zero luck with the starter.. I kept trying different things and a couple people mentioned a ground strap that runs between the tranny housing and the torsion tube .. I don't see one or even where one once may have been. I had already replaced the negative battery lead since at the beginning of the job when I went to disconnect the battery it was in extremely bad shape.. So I made a ground strap from some 4 gauge Stove wire I had lying around the basement bolted it to the new negative lead and the engine block.

According to the volt meter everything tests fine (still).. tried it and nothing. Swearing a blue streak I took out the new starter assumeing that it's NFG and is going back to the vendor Monday morning.

On a whim I put the old starter back in, hook it up and cross the leads... it starts.

Really swearing now I snug everything up try with the key .. zoom starts in a second.

I've had it on and off maybe twenty times and driven 25 miles or so .. every start the same no problems no hesitation.

So what I think happened was this.. (let me know if the logic is good or if I'm on glue)

Prior to it crapping out I had an idiot brake test me (seems I was going too slow for him) and I'm guessing that when I slammed on the brakes (hard) the battery moved and the old and crappy negative lead flexed just that one time too many. Still attached enough to run the low draw utilities but too much resistance to give the starter the guts to turn the fly wheel.

Thanks all..

RE Posted