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starter help !!!! Which one ??

6.2 man

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Okay this is getting old with my 83 6.2 . I will try and make a long story short . Last week I went somewhere and I parked for about 25 minutes . I cam out and she wouldn't start . Acted like the batteries were low on power turned over slowly . Let it sit so the engine would cool down and the glow plugs would come on . They did and it started but slowly . I took the batteries in twice to NAPA and they tested fine . Okay so I took the Alternator off and hauled it into O'Rielly's was charging but no amps. Got a replacement . Thought problem was fixed .It turned over slow but figured they would charge up and be okay. Drove about 15 minutes went to Walmart was inside 15 20 minutes and you guessed it turned over to slowly and no glow plug . Cooled down got the plugs and she turned over slowly but fired up . Okay I am now guessing either cables or starter . I replaced the starter 2 years ago and I know diesels are hard on these sytems so I am wondering instead of a direct drive starter if I should go with the newer High torque starter . I have heard I would need to buy a new support bracket . What do you think is the best way to go here . also would it help upgrading Alternators to something higher than the stock 78 amp . Also I have 2 800 amp batteries .
 
Go for the 28MT gear reduction starter, you'll never look back. Diesel rely on good cranking speed. The more rapidly the intake air gets compressed the hotter it gets. The hotter the intake charge the easier it'll start.

I had a marginal 27MT (old style) starter on my old 6.2. Needed to manually glow the GP's even in the summer no matter what for it to start. I installed a new 28MT and after that even if the engine was only marginally warm (sitting for an hour) it'd flash up without the glow plugs at all. Crank speed is king...

To keep your starter from killing itself never crank for more than 30 seconds at a time. Allow the starter to cool for at least one minute before trying again. 21:1 compression is hard on starters if you don't follow those two guidelines.

Rene
 
Di yopu have to buy the bracket for 28 mt ? Also how is the life of the starter ? I was told they don't hold up as well ? Thanks for the info !!!
 
Are your batteries the 800ca or 800cca? I was having an issue with my trucks, and I put in the industrial batteries, 960 or so CCA.... but it could be the starter or the cables. Make sure your cable sizes can handle the amperage, you will know if you turn over the truck for say 20 seconds and check your positive and its very warm. They will be warm anyway, but too hot is a sign of sizing issues. Many of our trucks have had the cables replace with the standard sizes, this can be a problem.

Just another thing to consider...
 
Di yopu have to buy the bracket for 28 mt ? Also how is the life of the starter ? I was told they don't hold up as well ? Thanks for the info !!!

It depends on what brand you find, mine is a Bosch...new not remanned. It wasn't cheap but i ran it for 4 years in my Blazer and another 3 years now in my pick-up. I think GM still sells the brace. I need one still.

Rene
 
GM still carried the braces last year but it wasn't a part most dealers had. Order in basically.
 
Sounds like you confirmed the alternator was not charging properly, and you did not put a battery charger on the batteries. How long have you driven with the new alternator? Put being, it can take awhile for just an alternator to fully charg a set of low batteries.
 
gm still sells the brace for the starter i beleave they r 19.98 a peice, i just bought two only took a day for them to get them in.
 
I did put a 40 amp charger on them for a 2 hours plus they showed 680 amps a piece at the parts store .
 
have u checked ur ground and positive coneitions? might have a little croision build up between the contacts.
 
I would start checking ground connections. On my 84 there are separate (-) cables fro each battery to the engine. If one (or both) of those is marginal, it cold cost you 30% of your potential. One trick is to hook your volt meter between the negative tenminal and the block (bypass the heavy cables and have a friend crank while you watch the meter. Any more than .5 volts means you have bad connections between the bats and the block. You can do the same thing ith the positive terminal (+) andthe beavy wire to the starter. Any more than .5 volts there is also a bad connection.
 
That sounds like a cool way to check things out !!! I will do that but what should I set my meter too ?
 
Can't remember exactly but..

I know on my 82 6.2L at one point it had symptoms like yours slow starts.. etc.. and I eventually had to break down and get new cables. There was corrosion inside the cable. I am not sure if this is a common problem but I ran into it.

Starter wise I have had the Oriely starter with lifetime warranty in my 82 since about 99 or 2000 given I have gone through about 4-6 of them but after the initial $200 or so its just my labor and two bolts come out pretty quick. One extra tip is keep checking those starter bolts I have had two shear off while trying to crank her up. I have thought of making it a yearly maintenance thing. Luckily when its happened I have not had too much trouble getting them out just used a reverse thread bit type thing.

just my .02

Sergio
 
Sergio...I am wondering if you have a shim between your starter and the block. My starter has failed twice in 5 years but I have never replaced the bolts. Just wondering why yours are breaking. Do you have the little bracket on the back of the starter that connects to the side of the block?
 
They usually break bolts because the brace has been left off.

Check those cables closely. If they need to be replaced, now is the time to upgrade to better, larger cables.
 

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