Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) It has to be the starter!! Now what? (Pictures)

[tp0d]

PCM is the powertrain control module, or brains of the truck. its on the passenger side firewall, next to the hood hinge, has about 80 wires in it. I believe the casing is highly water-resistant, but the connections may be a different story, particularly to a high pressure washer blast.



-j

 

[MacMc]

I had to look behind the airbox to see it, so I'm sure I never came close with a spray, and I did watch for other connections. I also learned to make sure not to hit one of the radiators. That'll take me an hour with a small steel ruler to fix...

 

[HerbW]

Rebuilding my starter tomorrow?

When rebuilding my starter tomorrow, should I put a coat of No-Ox on the new larger stationary contacts? I'm an electrician and I do that to everywhere else.

Seems like a good idea.

 

[tp0d]

It couldnt hurt I guess, a very thin coat. I had no corrosion at all on my original contacts in my starter, probably because it was a copper-copper connection. Oxidation usually occurs with dis-similar metals, via electrolysis. Battery terminals are almost 100% lead to lead... hmm wonder why they corrode...



hmm. .



-j

 

[BLively]

hey guys, quick question... i went to the local sonic earlier this evening, and shut the truck off for about 10 minutes, after driving for about 30 minutes total. i hopped back in, and nothing from the starter. everything else electrical was fine, just nothin from the starter. i crawled under the truck and started it with a srewdriver. could my problem be the contacts in my starter? i did check the fuse when i got home and it was blown. i replaced it with another, and the starter works, but i wanted to see what ya'll thought of this...

 

[DavidC]

When rebuilding my starter tomorrow, should I put a coat of No-Ox on the new larger stationary contacts? I'm an electrician and I do that to everywhere else.

Seems like a good idea.

I would stay away from putting no-lox on contacts. It will help accumulate dirt and eventually keep the contacts from making a good connection. Keep the no-lox for anti-sieze on connections. In the 34 years of being an electrician I have never used or seen no-lox used on contacts.



Dave

 

[Howard Durand]

BLively,

There is normally a reason behind a blown fuse. Is it the fuse that provides voltage for the relay or is it the one for the starter solenoid? Either way, it needs to be investigated.



I agree with DavidC about coating the starter contacts. They should be kept as clean as possible. Nothing on them to collect dust and dirt.



Battery terminals corrode because of the acid. Coating them helps but you mostly just have to keep them clean.

I'm not a professional electrician but the only time I use any compound is for copper to aluminum connections, which I try to avoid.

 

[HerbW]

I went to start my truck yesterday. First start try, just a click, on the second try the starter just stayed on without holding the key and started my truck. Yow! The contacts inside had stuck. I had to turn it off and luckily it let go. I'm replacing the starter contacts today. Get oversized contacts like Larry B's and fix ASAP. I have just 73K on my truck and they're toast. It's an easy fix and worth the piece of mind.

 

[BLively]

ya found the problem, replaced the starter this morning and took the old one apart. the contact on the positive side was almost gone, and the other side looked ok. gonna give Larryb a call this week and rebuild the old one for a spare. thanks for the help.

 

[HerbW]

Rebuilt my starter today!

I rebuilt my starter today and my contacts looked like the twin to Larry B's pictures! The one was paper thin! Now all is well and she really cranks over. Took me about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish with a coffee break in there. I used just a 10 MM 12 point box wrench as the sockets didn't fit well for me. Had to push hard with both hands. I couldn't find the deep well one or a socket joint. When you remove your starter, take the top bolt out first, so the starter doesn't bind on it while you unscrew it due to it's location. The bottom two are easy. Now to look for the diode addition for my starter. Good luck. Herb

 

[PSInt]

Starter and batteries both have a big job on these trucks. Terminals can be cleaned, batteries can be load tested. :{ If load test is good, terminals are good, the the next most logical is the starter. It too can be bench tested, however if the bushings are bad it may look like it's good. If it's the original and everything else looks good, shuffle on off to Autozone or NAPA and get one of their lifetime guarantee starters. That way you'll have a spare and they'll keep it for you. No storage issues.

 

[Joe G.]

Be careful about used starters. A friend of mine bought one and had it installed in his '96. He was working on a job pretty close to where I live when his truck decided not to start. He could hear the starter spinning, but the engine did not turn. We towed it to my house and put it in my garage. When we removed his starter there was no gear on it!!. The little clip on the end had come off so the gear fell off. It jammed between his torque convertor and transmission case. It was really in there. He said when he turned the engine off when he got to the job that morning it had stopped really hard. We had to remove the transmission to get the gear out. It was jammed so hard we could not turn the flywheel without breaking something. He got a new starter from Dodge. I have no idea where the rebuilt came from. His mechanic bought it for him.

 

[MacMc]

DO NOT BUY THOSE CHEAP STARTERS ON EBAY!! I did, buying the one that was linked earlier in this thread.



Here's a follow up. It's worked fine since then until a few days ago. The truck is now dead at home, with the exact same symptoms. SIX months, and I was out of town in Mexico with a friend only occasionally using the truck in the meanwhile for three of those six. That was its lifespan.



I'll be buying another new starter tomorrow, and not from eBay.

 

[PSInt]

Lifetime guarantee

I had started problems. Bought one from Autozone. About 2 years later it went again. Nice thing about it is, I took it back and they gave me another one. Love those lifetime guarantees. A starter has a big job to do overcoming the high compression of a diesel engine. I like the idea of having that insurance. If you buy one from a dealer it's probably no better and you have a 90 day, 4,000 mile warranty... . and good luck getting them to honor that if they didn't install it. :-{} I paid over $300. at Autozone. I can imagine how much the dealer wants. Keep good batteries in your truck and keep the cables clean and your starter will last a LONG time.

 

[JFaughn]

I was suspect of the ebay starters , but that doesn't mean there all the same .
I ended up getting a used one from a member .
A good one should last at least 50,000 , but you half to compare apples to apples , new , used , rebuild , then theres put what ever into a used truck , I think that a new part in a new truck will last the longest , then any combination of above parts and trucks will last in descending order .

 

[hsmith]

I have 180k on mine. Did the contacts and plunger at about 100k. Think I remember Larry B having new ones for under $300.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Mileage numbers mean nothing on starters. It's the type of use the truck gets that means something.