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Starter questions - how hard to change and what brand

badmix

badmix

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Looks like my starter may be going out on my truck.

How hard is it to change. I have heddman headers if that matters.

Also what brand should I go with and which to stay away from. Id probably just get a Napa Reman'd one, unless there are better alternatives.

Thanks
 
I second the AcDelco ones. Now would be a good time to upgrade to a high torque mini starter if you can swing the $$$
 
Most remanned parts go to a warehouse where they test the part to find out what went bad, replace that part, clean it up and rebox it for sale. You could end up with a starter that has 80% old parts, 20% new. (They do replace most of the smaller, cheaper parts on remans also). But its not all new.

I say go with AC Delco. The last Delco starter I bought was cheaper than the Napa one! :wink1:
 
How much money are you willing to spend? AC Delco if you want a fairly inexpensive replacement unit, Nippondenso gear reduction if you can afford it. My buddy has one that I am trying to grab from him, but it cost about $300 for it, and it weighs about 5 lbs, versus the 20 or so of a stock starter.

As far as changing it, it should be a matter of removing two bolts, then disconnecting the wires. Make sure you disconnet either the positive or negative on the battery, you don't want a spark shower or to blow up your battery.
 
Buy the Delco branded starter for a 95 Chevy 454 in a K3500. Its a mini starter I've used ALOT. I use Advance Auto's house brand of reman with the lifetime warranty and have never had one go bad. They are like $130-140 and crank my 9.5:1 camaro motor over like its not there.
 
I got my Delco starter for my '74 off of RockAuto.com for about 35 bucks.
It's been great so far.

I have the headman elite headers. I had to disconnect the flanges at the collector and loosen the header from the head in order to move things around enough to drop the starter.

Other than that, it's just the two bolts in the starter.

It wasn't bad, but the headers definitely made the job take about 4x longer just screwing around to work behind them.

-Ben
 
You might want to consider a heat shield for the starter. The header tubes and collector generate a lot more heat near the starter. Jegs and Sumit sell them.
 
Replacing a starter is easy. When the motor is out of the truck. Otherwise you're lying in the gravel in your parent's driveway, 75 miles from home, at 7PM on a Sunday night, with minimal tools, bench-pressing a twenty-five pound oily football in the dark. :doah:

Anyway, I've had good luck with the Dorman / Motormite / HELP! shields from my local parts house. Their total cost is less than the shipping cost from Summit/Jegs.

And I only buy Delco starters. I used to go to the dealer, but my local parts house now carries them. While they're remans now (years ago they were NEW, it was sweet) they do seem to be reliably good quality. In fact, knock on wood, I've not had to replace a stater in some time.

But both my trucks still have a two or three foot chunk of 2x4 for the ritual beatings of a stuck solenoid. It's a Chevy thing. :haha:

-- A
 
It's an easy task on a gasser... IMHO if it's a gm starter, start with the solenoid, easy to replace and usually that's the problem anyways...
 
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