Anyone hear of a starter motor solenoid issue when the motor was hot? Occasionally, if I drive a bit at op temp, then stop the motor, then try to start the D again in only a minute or two, I get all the dash lights and things right, but no big click from the solenoid. I can wait 10 mins and it starts normal, immediately, like a new truck.

At 102,000 mi I figured it's either the key end, the starter relay, or at the starter motor end (the moving parts). I swapped the relay and added two wires to it and ran them to the inside so I could meter when it failed (happens only once a week or so).

One wire is to the relay coil feed, see if the key switch got things that far. The other is to the relay output to see if the last line to the solenoid was getting 12V. So, the failure yesterday showed power from the relay to the solenoid was fine.

Is it the solenoid? Would you replace the starter motor assembly or rebuild it? If replace, with new or reman? Brands? It's not a crisis condition, so I can wait for UPS if that gets me the best result.

 

It seems plausible that the solenoid might not want to work when hot. My grandpap's one buddy rebuilt starters and alternators for a living, so it's certainly possible, I honestly don't know how easy it would be or if parts are available though.

My starter that I replaced a few years ago is a Duralast from autozone and it's been fine.

 

One side of my head says diag my way down and only replace the part that bad, no speculation/assumptions. The other head side says there is 102,000 mi on the starter, maybe swap it anyway, as preventative maint, even if the prob may still be there.

I guess I could lift that corner of the truck and crawl under and have a look, might be something simple. I think thats this retired guy's project for the day.

 

Sorry for starting this thread. I'm a big advocate of looking into something yourself before posting a "I heard a noise, what do you think it is?" thread, thats what I did this time.

I jacked it up and had a look. I am used to things being factory unless I modded it, since I never use a a shop for repairs, which is why I assumed something just wore out. Well, I did have the trans done 18 months ago, by a shop. It seems they broke the plastic housing for the starters solenoid connector and cobbled it together with RTV to avoid swapping in a new starter. I decided to get the starter, to fix that and freshen it up for the next 100,000 miles. All done, all fixed.

 

Why be sorry for starting the thread?

You could probably grab a new connector from the junkyard and grab a new connector (not sure if it's the connector on the starter or wiring you're talking about).

 

It's the solenoid connector mounted to the starter. The starter motor side of the connector is all nice and new now, but the plug side from the truck is still not great. The external housing of the plug, with the snap lock, was buggered, but the inside actual plug was good. I had to zip-tie the good plug into the new socket to be sure it stays connected. I do plan to head to the junkyard soon, bring a pair of wire cutters and such. First thing in the morning is great, low Albuquerque sun, nice temps, and a big junk yard, a perfect morning walk for an old guy from Detroit.

 

Actually yes seen it many times. It usually means the starter is starting to go out.

I know you think you found the problem but here is some advise for next time.

Set up a multi meter where it is across your battery terminals but you can see the read out from the drivers side. Now try to turn over the truck where the solenoid should click and it should try to start. If there is just a bit of drop in voltage then it's a bad connection or solenoid. If there is a very large draw then it's a bad starter motor.

There is also the old trick of popping the starter, but better not go into that. -Old school mechanics-.

 

Use a hammer! That does work too, my dad had to do that on his old Catalina once to get home (from the auto parts store ironically).

 

Every vehicle i every own that had headers on it has that same issue every 2 or so years. The heat coming off of them would bake the starters to death. Not saying headers are what did this one in, just saying i had to deal with it before.

 

I spent some quality time at the local pull-n-pay this morning. I found a couple decent connectors. I came home and installed it, and it's nice and secure now, plus I have the new starter! I should be good for a long time, which is the type of repair I like.