recently bought a 1987 Ram W100. There seems to be power for lights, radio, heat and everything. there is power to the starter, but it drags when I crank it over. it drags and drags, and eventually starts.

My first thought was the alternator, but then again, when the truck is running, there's no waivering power, battery gauge holds steady showing that it is charging and the lights don't dim or fade in and out.

could it just be the starter? I haven't had a chance to get the jumper cables to it to see if it just fires up with cables or not.

 

the battery gauge you are talking about is a amp gauge and not very accurate. some gauges move a lot some barely move at all. if it is turning slow it could be a bad ground or battery connection. it happens with age. if you do replace it you could get one for a truck a year or 2 newer and get the smaller compact starter. they weight a bit less and are a bit easier to get in and out if they ever have to be fixed or replaced.

 

Rog. Will look into it. Thanks a lot!

 

As normal, Crazy is right, but I'll add that (I thinik) the newer smaller starter also has more torque. Plus, they are cheap enough but first thing I would do is clean all the connections on the cables and wires to and from the starter before buying a new or rebuilt one.

 

i don't think the newer ones have more torque. i think the newer ones just require a few less amps to turn the engine over. i think with a brand new battery and good connections you may not notice too much difference between the 2.

 

Alright, thanks yall. Turns out that it was the battery dyin out. The alternator is goin bad, so I had to get a new one. Got a new battery as well, just in case.

 

did you have the old alternator tested? most parts stores will do it for free. i know there is many things that could cause the battery to not charger as well as it should. the voltage regulator on the firewall could cause things to not charge as well as possible. they need good clean connections to operate correctly.