Long time no see everyone. Had to shake of the royal beating I received on the paint-job attempt. Trying to get back in the saddle and work on the old 83. Got a speculative diagnosis on a 8 year old starter problem and I wanted to bounce my thoughts off of you guys. I've replaced the the starter on my 22RE 7 times and rebuilt each one at least once. Replacement or rebuild usually works till it gets really hot again. This year I was really sick of it so I bought the $350 mean green through LCEngineering that touts hot start solution and it worked for 2 days. I had replaced batteries, battery wires, starters and tested the crap out of starters that appeared to be fine. So here's my last two ideas. I cut off the connector on the ignition switch wire and an inch of the wire, re-stripped and put on a new connector. Why this connector would be influenced negatively by high temperature I cannot figure out but it was very corroded and the inch I cut off had a wildly varying resistance on the ohmmeter so it seemed like a reasonable idea. If and I speculate when it doesn't start again I have a plan. I peeled apart a set of jumper cables and was going to keep one side around to connect the negative battery post to say the bolt that holds the starter to the transmission. What I was thinking is that perhaps every time i remove the starter it scuffs up the negative connection which is the starter itself. Perhaps it's not heat that causes it but the humidity and a continuously degrading corrosion situation throughout the frame. Just wondering if this makes sense to anybody. Will post future progress in reference to my speculation here.

 

So the starter has tested out fine? It quits working once the engine gets hot but works again after it cools down or just quits period?

 

Test the voltage at the starter solenoid and compare that when the starter works and does not work. If it is very low when the starter doesn't work, the problem likely lies upstream from the starter. One option is to install a dedicated starter relay to send power directly to the solenoid, bypassing all the stock wiring.

 

I can usually hear the whine of it spinning, it's like it doesn't totally engage. I used to think the solenoid was expanding in the heat of GA summer but now I'm thinking that maybe it's not getting enough juice to totally engage due to insufficient ground, at least that's my new theory. I'm feeling like this is better than my old conspiracy theory that the part manufacturers were screwing with me by putting out bad parts. I have kept a hammer under the passenger seat for years and used to tap on the starter to get it to start and it progressively would get worse till the hammer trick didn't work. I never have a problem in fall, spring or winter. It does usually work once it's cooled down but when the ambient heat in GA stays all night it gets really bad to the point where the hammer trick only works with two people (one on the hammer and one on the ignition).

 

have you checked the flywheel ? .. maybe some of the teeth are warn or missing , right on "that" spot .

 

Diagnosing a starter should not generally require a very extensive set of tools. There is a test that I learned when I was very young from my Dad in the shop that anybody can do if an engine does not crank.

Park the truck in front of your house or garage door or grab a partner. Turn the headlights on. Turn the key to start. If the lights go dim, the starter motor is recieving power If the lights do not go dim, there is insufficient power going to the starter.

If the porblem is the latter rather than the former, start by cleaning the battery terminals. Clean the primary ground on the truck. Clean clean clean is the key here.

Then move down to the starter itself. Verify the condition of all terminals on the starter and replace and re-crimp cables as necessary. Again clean and corrosion free. Minor oxidation (blackened or greyed copper elements) are OK but if it looks like there is a miniature Statue of Liberty growing on your terminals than I say that you sadly must remove that wiring.

Replacing a starter relay is a simple affair - the part is about 30 bucks so why not replace it if you feel you have your doubts?

Terminal corrosion gets most of these older trucks. Especially cars parked outside and especially it seems in the humid seasons.

My '80 came from the desert so it is pretty corrosion free (lucky me)

 

Sorry, clearly the above does not apply here as the starter motor is actually spinning in this case?

Although corrosion is always a problem for electrical connections. Good luck!

Some starter motors are better than others. Most aftermarket brand starters are Excell although I think the NAPA one in my truck right now is actually a remanufactured Bosch.... Aftermarket parts have gone down in quality even since I was a boy.

 

I haven't had the need for my single wire jumper to test the neg connection. Since I cut the 2" or so off of the ignition switch wire and put on a new connector I have had zero hot start problems. I suppose it's been about a week so we'll see. I'll post if it turns out to be another fluke.