hey. my truck isnt starting. i just changed the oil pan gasket so i had to take my starter. now i have everything hooked up and it wont start. starter isnt doing anything when hooked up to vehicle. i pulled the starter put to bench test it. i can get the solenoid to push the gear out by putting ground wire to ground terminal and a jumper wire from positive to solenoid wire. however to get the motor to spin i have to move ground to mounting hole(hole where bolt goes through to mount to engine) on starter and directly touching positive wire to solenoid wire. wont work if ground is one the ground stud. theres three wires, positive, negative and wire from the motor to the solenoid. the last wire is what i mean by solenoid wire(not sure if thats the correct name). it wont so anything hooked up to vehicle. i checked the wiring and it appears ok. i can hear and feel the relay click. battery is fully charged. im out of ideas. what do you all think?

 

yes, your right on all accounts. the solenoid wire is a purple color i think... id just makes sure everything had good contacts, try re-positioning the connections, and the connections up top at the battery where they split off and run to the starter. also, you may test to make sure the solenoid wire is not broken. if you have a long enough wire, trace that wire back and jumper in a new wire and run it down to the solenoid and see if it works. solenoid should be clickin all day, if its not then its not gettin the signal.

 

how would i bench test the starter?i figured out that the small post beside the big post is the "trigger wire". do i hook 12 volts up to big post and put a jumper between big post and small post? i'd like to know how to test the starter properly

 

i haven't looked at mine in years, so i can't say which post is which - but -

the starter needs a constant 12 volt on the large battery wire to the positive post (+).
and then it needs a switched 12 volt to the solenoid to trigger the solenoid to kick the bendix (gear) out. this would be the little wire.
i don't recall if there is a ground wire or not, probably is.

the shade tree method of bench testing is to connect a set of jumper cables from a battery to the starter. + to +, - to -. this duplicates how it sits in the truck. then touch a jumper wire from the + to the solenoid connection. strap it down so it doesn't jump off the table and make the battery cables jump off and touch each other.

 

also you can install the starter and turn the ignition on, then just jumper the positive wire to the solenoid, and see if the truck starts.

if it starts then id be splicing in a new solenoid wire.

 

i did some more testing, i believe the wiring is correct and working properly, the positive wire has power at the connector on the starter end, the trigger wire has power when the key is turned to start position and it is getting 12.5 volts. when i bench tested the starter i used a booster pack. positive cable to the big post(constant), and i hooked the ground cable to the mounting bolt hole of the starter case. i hooked a jumper wire from the positive connector (big post) to the trigger post and the gear kicked out but did not spin. there is wire about an inch long on the other side of the starter that runs between motor and solenoid and connects with a nut. i connected the jumper wire from the positive connecter to the inch long wire between the motor and solenoid at the nut and the motor spins but doesnt kick out. im confused because each function of the starter is working but not together. could this mean there is something internally not making the motor spin when the solenoid kicks out? with the starter on the truck it doesnt do anything. i can hear and feel the starter relay clicking when the key is turned to start, and i switched relays with the blower motor relay as they are the same and the starter still didnt work. so does this mean the starter is bad? as i said wiring appears good, constant has power and the trigger wire gets 12.5 volts when key is turned to start.

 

on the trucks normal electrical connection to the starter for the small wire(s) - what does that look like? is it a single + wire connector to only the little post, or does it directly connect to your inch long wire?

anyone else got a starter laying around ?

 

there are only 2 wires to hookup to the starter. the constant directly from battery and the trigger wire from the pdc. the little inch long wire comes out of a hole in the solenoid and connects to motor, or comes out of motor and connects to solenoid, cant remember. but any connection between the trigger post or constant post and that inch long wire would be internal as there isnt anything else to hook up.

 

If the starter tests fine out of the truck, but, won't work in the truck, I would guess you have a grounding issue. Try cleaning up the mounting surfaces for the starter. (both on the starter, and on the block.) Try again.

 

ok so i tried some more testing this morning. i connected the wires from truck to starter how they should be, and i connected the ground from our booster back to the starter case and positive to the large constant terminal on the starter. i know this is a good ground and starter mounting holes are clean. this should simulate how it is in the truck. when i turn the key to start the solenoid kicks the gear out but doesnt turn starter. im thinking something is wrong internally in the starter and its not spinning the motor when the solenoid kicks the gear out. so i have power from both wires and the trigger is getting 12.5 volts. it was hooked up to truck and its only kicking gear out but not spinning. im gonna take the starter to a place that sells and rebuilds them, i'll get him to test it and see what he says, but im sure its the starter as i had it connected to truck and its only kicking out the gear, the motor wont spin