starter problems......??

[personaltrainer]

I got in my truck and..... nothing. Not even a click, radio worked, lights worked but it would not start - figured I'd start with the battery - so I jumped it to be sure.....nothing. I then gt under it and knocked the crap out of the starter a few times with a hammer and - she fired right up.
I have noticed that for the last month or so it was a little "weak" sounding right when it began to turn over - no grinding or anything just sounded like the battery might be low - the volt meter in the dash reads about 11-13amps (not sure how accurate that one is though)

So my questions are these:
Is the starter def. my problem?
What would I expect to pay for a decent quality starter - I know it's only $40 from the parts store but are these worth a damn?
Thanks in advance.

 

[dwoods]

It sounds like it is the starter. I can't really answer about car parts store staters because we have a really good starter and alternator shop here and we just take them there to be rebuilt.

 

[k20]

if beating on it fixed it, yep, its the starter(unless there is a bad batt cable connecting hitting it is fixing). When I had my 350, I had a lifetime warranty advance auto starter. Never had a need to get another one. However, no non-gear reduction starter can turn over my big block, something to think about if you have a hi-perf motor. If you are running headers, I would recommend a heatshield also or a ministarter(read:$$).

 

[personaltrainer]

okay. got mine at advanced also - just have a 350, no headers and nothing fancy so i guess this starter should be fine..

Anything i should know about replacing it? never done it befor. pretty basic? just unbolt one and rebolt the new one? don't want to mess anything up but i'd like to do it today so PLEASE someone tell me if there is a certain procedure to this. thanks.

 

[79Stomper]

Nope, no certain procedure for it. Just remember which wires goe to which post on the starter. It is pretty simple. Just remove the flex plate shied, remove the wires from the starter solenoid and then the 2 bolts holding the starter on and your done. Be careful, the stock ones have a little weight to them and they will fall pretty quickly. Installation is the reverse of above. I will be replacing my mini starter here next weekend.

Some how everytime I pull the motor I need to buy a new starter or have it rebuilt........

 

[73k5blazer]

My personal expierence with chain parts store starters is: they suck.
Long time ago, I had this beater '76 Malibu. It had a couple missing teeth on the flywheel, which I had no resources to replace at the time. So I used to just replaced the starter every 4 months when itchewed it up. Somtimes I could by with just the drive gear, but most time I was lazy and kept at it until the drive gear would disengrate and send bits all through the starter.
I started with these parts store starters and 1 in 3 of them didin't work longer than 3 days. Then I found the local gy who rebuilt them in his garage and no more problems.
Later in life, in my k5 that I'm rebuilding now, I needed a starter, was in a new place, so I went to the parts store. Same thing again. The thing didn't last but a few days before it crapped out. Took it back, got a replacment under guarantee of course, and same thing few days later, nothing.
Thumbed through the book and found a sweet local shop that rebuild them there, and bought from them (at a cheaper price mind you!) and no more problems. I just used one of thier starters again in my C10, been in 9 months now and no problems. Thier starters are also a lot more powerful than the parts store ones.
So, bottom line, no starters (or alternators) from parts stores for me. Those places send them out to these huge shops with a bunch of illegals working there who replace the absolute minimal amount of parts in the starter. Most of the time that amounts to brushes, ($2 worth of parts).

 

[personaltrainer]

allright james. I'll see if I can figure that out. I'll give ya'll the update later.....

fingers crossed.

 

[zeroz400]

When you pull the starter off of your truck, make sure you keep any shims and remember where they were when you go to place the new starter in. Make sure where there is an electrical connection that there is nothing in the way, clean up the connections if you need to.


Later

 

[MA87K5]

I'm going on 7 years on a parts store starter and still no problem. Out of all the starters that I bought for my many cars through the years, I have yet to have a problem.

 

[tyco91burban]

To make a GM starter last longer you should look into getting a heat shield most people just throw them away thinking they dont do much. It sounds like it was just your selnoid. witch they hotter it gets the less time it takes to wear out.Also the sim is a big deal.