please diagnose my starter problem. i want my truck to RUN!

[colbystephens]

so yesterday i finished putting my truck together. i have a 6.2 and i was turning the engine over to prime the fuel system. everything was going so smoothly. then i decided to change my course of action and did some stuff to my engine (nothing wiring related) and hoped back in to continue cranking the engine. when i turned the key, it only clicked as if my batteries were dead. the batteries were brand new, and my glow plugs were still working, so i know the batteries weren't dead. so i got under my truck and screwed with the wires on the starter. got back in, turned the key and the starter worked! being that i was surprised by it working, i let off the key pretty quick. i tried again, and nothing more than a click happened. then i took the starter down and took off the wires, and made sure the connections were good. put it back in and nothing - not even a click. i read on another recent post a similar story which made it appear that perhaps my solenoid is bad. any ideas??

 

[mudhog]

yes the solenoid is bad

 

[87350blaz]

sounds like it could be the solenoid have you tried tapping on the starter and the area and see if it will turn over?

when mine went out i thought i had a dead battery, the lights were all dim and just sounded like a dead battery. but turned out it was the starter. at least I got an optima now, so i don't worry about my battery anymore

 

[colbystephens]

i haven't tapped on it - unfortunately my truck is an hour away, so i can't test that. good news is, tho, that my parts store got me a solenoid for $13! we'll have to try that. any tips for replacing the solenoid? i'm not too familiar with starters - can't be too hard tho. anyone got any other ideas?

 

[goldwing2000]

any tips for replacing the solenoid? i'm not too familiar with starters - can't be too hard tho. anyone got any other ideas?

Yeah... don't drop the starter on your head. It'll make you cuss.

 

[colbystephens]

man, you should have seen me and my wife yesterday. she's an amazing woman - she is a small woman, and she was under the truck with me holding the starter up in the air for me. it was crazy. we had a pretty tough time (read "lots of colorful language") but we got it done (2 times! ). she even changed my tcase fluid, rear diff, hooked up injectors . . . amazing. when we were done she was all covered in coolant and oil. funny stuff.

 

[ryoken]

 

[colbystephens]

i don't have any pics of her working on the truck yesterday. but.. if you want a pic

 

[goldwing2000]

Awesome. Hang on to that one. She's a keeper!

edit: how about a pic for us cheap-ass non-paying members?

 

[ryoken]

daaaayuumm!

 

[colbystephens]

Awesome. Hang on to that one. She's a keeper!

edit: how about a pic for us cheap-ass non-paying members?

sorry dude, there's no way for me to post it up that way. there's pics of her working on my engine in the slideshow/video on my website tho at www.web.pdx.edu/~colbys. go to the "theater" section. you'll need windows media player. the pics aren't that good tho.

 

[goldwing2000]

You have a web site with videos, images and pages. ergo, you have a way to post the pic if you choose to. Just load it up to your web page and link to it.

For instance, here a posting of the pic on your splash page:

http://web.pdx.edu/~colbys/truckdrwg.JPG

Anyway... any chick willing to get that greasy and not complain about it constantly is definitely a keeper.

It cracks me up that you tore the engine down to the bare block but left the starter on.

 

[colbystephens]

yeah, i know how to post pics, i just don't have any pics of her posted up on the web to do a link to. i took the starter off eventually.

back to the topic at hand... anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[goldwing2000]

So what's the pic you posted back on post #8? I must have missed something.

Anyway, if you want to be thorough, completely disassemble the starter and clean all the crap out of it before you put it back on. That engine looked like it had a pretty bad oil leak, so the starter is probably full of burned up oil, mud and metal shavings.

Normally I would just tell you to buy a new one but I get the feeling that your money is tight, so it wouldn't hurt to rebuild the old one. If you can find them, you could also install a new set of brushes while you have it apart.

 

[colbystephens]

good tips. the pic i posted on #8 is directly from my computer. whenever something is posted as an attatchment, it's directly off of someone's computer, like attatching to an email. no web address necessary.

 

[goldwing2000]

the pic i posted on #8 is directly from my computer. whenever something is posted as an attatchment, it's directly off of someone's computer, like attatching to an email. no web address necessary.

I realize this. That's why non-paying members can't view it.

When I want to post a direct picture link, it takes me a minute or less to upload it to my web space and then post the link. I figured you had the same capability but I guess not.

 

[colbystephens]

nah, i gotta upload my website updates at the school.

 

[stewburban]

Aloso try putting in new brushes or check them at least to make sure that they are not worn down that is what happened to me when you replace the selinoid it may try to start but also sound like the timing is off if so replace the brushes