I put on a new starter last weekend with one of my friends on my car and it's giving me problems already. Whenever you try to start the car you just get the click, then nothing. Try again and boom it starts right up like it should. The amount of times you have to turn the key over is different every time but seems to be a lot less when it's just me in the car (IDK why, but if it's just me, maybe 2 times, sometimes first try, with others sometimes 25 times). The old starter didn't have a shim and I'd assume that this one wouldn't need one either, as the previous one didn't use one and there wasn't one with the new starter when I got it. My buddy said that instead of being too far out from the flywheel it is actually too close and that's the problem. IDK what to do to go about this problem. Any suggestions?

 

After reading some other threads about starters I want to clarify that it only clicks once when I turn the key, not multiple times. Also, it doesn't drain much better voltage at all when I turn it over and it fires right up once it "catches." It doesn't crank slow or anything.

 

SOunds like a bad starter, ,ine did that after it got heat soaked by my headers. put another new one on it everything has been fine.

The first one that did it started about a month after i bought it.

 

Would that be the general consensus on the problem? I'd hate to spend this weekend under the car for the same problem as last weekend.

 

Are your cables making good contact? is your starter making good contact with the block. Are your cable brittle feeling ?

 

More than likely not the starter if you replace it... it's possible to get a bad one off the shelf, but not exactly likely. I'd check all your grounds and cables and make sure they're clean and not damaged. After that, maybe ignition switch. Try bypassing the switch and jumping the starter. You can rig up a switch for it for about $5 in parts... that would tell you a lot.

 

if you didn't get a NEW ac delco starter, take that junk back and get a new one. the rebuilt ones are absolute crap. junk, crap, suck, POS. my experience anyway.

 

Make sure all of your electrical connections, including grounds are good, especially the battery and terminals. A bad battery or battery connections can result in such a symptom. I assume that you replaced the starter because it was no good---and not because you misdiagnosed the starter as the culprit (and not the battery and/or connections).

I'd consider it before I blamed the new starter. JMHO

 

Going to have to disagree with that statement. Not that I doubt your experiences with bad parts, but most "rebuilt" starters (and alternators for that matter) are only labled "rebuilt" because they use a remanufactured casing. All interior components are brand new. That's the case at autozone, at least, not sure about the rest of the parts places.

 

Cables are new from last summer.

How would I rig up a switch to bypass the ignition switch?

I had the battery tested and tested the voltage to battery, alternator, and starter. All had good voltage except starter, it had 4 volts. Had it tested and it would barely turn on the testing machine at Advance.









Has anyone done a write up on how to test the starting/charging system?

 

it sounds like you have a bad starter to me, most reman starters and alternators re use the stator and armature windings. it is a comon symptom of a bad armature winding to click but not start when the starter stops with the brushes on that bad winding. i am not saying that all reman starters re use the armature windings but alot of them do. one good way to tell is if you hold the key forward after it clicks and have someone tap on the starter with a hammer, if it finally engauges you found your problem.

 

You can wire up a momentary switch with one wire to the main terminal of the starter, and the other to the solenoid (smaller) terminal. Push the switch, if it starts to crank every time (instead of clicking) then the problem is somewhere between ignition switch and the starter. If it just clicks, then you've got a bad starter.

If you don't want to mess with wiring it up yourself (though it's not hard at all) you can buy a "bump switch" normally used for slowly turning the engine to get it TDC at autozone for $15 or something, it's by Actron and they should have it back behind the counter.

Or if you're brave, you can take a long screwdriver and jump the two terminals yourself... that's what I always did on old trucks, but it's a little harder for the LT1 with the starter all tucked away.

 

Finally got the time to work on it today, been working 10 hour days and every day I get off it's been raining so I don't have a chance to get under it. Anyway, I checked all of the grounds I know of on the car and they all had good connection. I unbolted the starter and cleaned the contacts with it and the block, it started 4 times like it should and then went back to the same stuff. Tried tapping on the starter with a ratchet and the solenoid while having someone hold the ignition after a click, no luck there. I haven't got to jump the selenoid over to the battery cable, but that's all I've got left.

On a side note, the guage in the car says I've got 13.2-13.4 and with a voltmeter on the battery and to the alternator I've got 13.9 volts. Don't know it that will help, but I'm tired of having to go only one place when I go out because I'm afraid it won't start if I go too many places. It seems the more I take short trips the worse it is on starting the car.

Any advice based off of this new information?

 

I forgot to say this, I asked one of the mechanics at work, and he told me to check the grounds to see if they have come loose. I'm not sure if I got all of them, so I'll list the ones I've got: Battery to RH side body, battery to engine, one on each side of the radiator support, one above starter (small black wire), one (two wires) to the coil mount (not sure exactly what it's bolted to), one from head to LH body (I'd like to redo this one but don't know where to pick up the strap for it, as it was tore before I got the car and I had to rig it back right). I think there's another one that goes to the firewall, but I couldn't find a pic of it so IDK.

 

have you tried shimming it yet? the bendix on the starter is probably hitting the flywheel then it will line up and turn the motor over - I think if your have a bad ground then it wouldn't turn it over at all, or slowly