1985 dodge ram royal se
318 auto

hey guys hows it goin, managed to take out an early model starter which is fairly big i might add, and stuffed a brand new smaller acdelco starter in there, now i checked the teeth, and all connections to the starter circuit and re-installed twice. the problem is that when i go to turn the truck over it has a high pitch whine (motor fan bearily moves) until the whine gets to a very low pitch and slow sound the motor finaly starts turning over and starts right up. now i scratched my head and the only thing i noticed is that the old starter has a shaft that goes right through the drive gear to the end of the starter housing while the newer starter does not. any suggestions besides getting a new starter again...

 

Sounds like the solenoid is not engaging the starters gear into the flywheel immediately like it should. Are you sure the new starter is compatible with your application? Is the distance from the mounting surface on the starter to the fully extended gear position the same on both starters? You might pull the starter and paint the gear with fingernail polish. Let it dry and install the starter and start the truck. When you pull the starter you will be able to see how it is engaging the flywheel.

 

hey yeah i just took the the new starter back and they tested it on the floor and the solenoid seems to be working just fine. which sucks for me :P, the part numbers are exact and there was even a notice inside the box that said this is a new replacement part for the old starter, that is more effiecient blah blah blah. and it doesnt engage the flywheel till the battery is almost dead... thanks for the tip though am going to go and do that right away anymore tests i can do besides using a volt meter?