starter issues
 

After getting my engine back in the car and everything being almost ready to get back on the road, my starter has stopped working.

I've printed out the ignition switch and starter articles to take down to the garage w/ me but I was looking for some advice.

1) any big items that those two articles miss?
2) What about shorting the solenoid? How do I do this (details please, I'm pretty good mechanically but I'm a dunce when it comes to electrical stuff)? And what does this show me if the starter then cranks?

Thanks,
-Braxton
-2.0 '74

The biggest problem Ive experienced with these starters is dead spots on the brush contacts. The result of this is that if your started stops on a dead spot, you cannot get it to turn unless you can spin it or sometimes beat on it. Ive had this problem with a 'new' rebuilt Bosche starter as well.

To set up a remote starter switch, you contact the big threaded stud with the big black wire going to it to the little male spade lug with I think a yellow wire going to it. I bought a button type switch and some alligator clips and wired a switch up. This will bypass the ignition system and may tell you if you have too big of a voltage drop across your ignition switch. This switch masked the problem of dead spots on my starter though, and I didnt realize it until Id gone through the entire system and replaces all types of parts. At least I have a new ignition system now!

Good luck!

Ben

Braxton, also look through the "starter system troubleshooting" article. Most of what is in there is easier to do (if not always to understand) than replacing the ignition switch or the starter.

--DD

My car has starter issues as well. A month or so ago I went through the starter trouble shooting article and determined that my battery was shot. An Optima from Pep Boys did the trick for a while. Recently the hesitation from when the ignition key is turned until starter turns has come back. A few days ago it did not turn over at all. Once home I placed a voltmeter across the battery terminals and cranked the motor over. The voltage was about 11.2 V. This is a little bit low according to the article but much higher than I measured with my old battery. Since I recently went through and checked all the connections I'm thinking that there is some other problem. The bad spots in the starter refered to in the earlier post is interesting, I have never heard of it before.

You might want to try by-passing the key and all it's wires by hooking up a remote starter switch such as those used to jog the engine over for adjusting valves, etc. It is hooked from the batt to the spade lug on the starter and should crank easily. If it still doesn't spin, it may be the big cable from the batt to the bolted lug on the starter, especially if it is more than s few years old. My daughter's car had the original batt to starter cable which was as hard as solid steel and had huge amounts of resistance! I used a 2ga length of welding cable and put on my own ends and it sure spun better! Good luck.