1991 4x4 Pickiup - 3VZE

When I bought the truck, occasionally (oddly usually when the truck's warm) the starter wouldn't engage. It would make this brrrrrrrrrrb light grinding sound and then when i shut the key off, you could hear the gear spinning as it would wind down. If i just tried starting it a few more times it engages properly and then starts right up.

I replaced the starter with a "brand new" re-manufactured one from Denso which is supposedly the OEM. It does the SAME thing...maybe it's just in my head but it seems like when it does it, the truck is warm. It doesn't do it every time, maybe every 5th warm start or something.

What else could be wrong?!

 

It might be a bad battery cable or a ground not making good contact. I had a nissan truck that had starter problems and after changing the starter,I found out the ground cable was nearly broke into.

 

Hmm...the cables to the starter were in great shape...maybe I'll do a voltage drop test on it just to be sure and clean the battery terminals as well.