hey guys, this is for my buddy, im trying to work on his car and get this figured out.

He has a 95 Buick Lesabre 3.8L, thing has 84K.

Well he noticed that his starting was getting weaker. It was still cranking over, but then one night, he went to start it, and it slowly cranked down to nothing, and then there was no crank at all.

After this happened, he could smell something "burnt" somewhere within the car.

I went to him that night, tried to jump him with my truck to see if it was battery, and nothing. No crank at all. All guages come on, heat blows at full power, radio works, headlights are bright on its own. All this happenes even not hooked to my truck.

So today i had another chance to get into it. I tested the starter, and there IS power to the starter.

I layed underneath right next to the starter, and asked him to crank it. There was no clicks or any sound comming from the starter, but there was power to it.

His battery is charged, alternator is good. The starter is a B!TCH to get out, and cant figure out how without raising out the motor.

What does this sound like to you guys? i popped the valve covers and the rockers are flat arcoss the board. all in same position. That isnt normal is it?

but the thing is, he said the starting was getting slower, when the car was running it was fine, no power loss, ticks, knocks whatsoever.

help me out lol

 

according to alldata it is not too hard

When removing starter, note if any shims are used between the starter and mounting surface. If shims are found, reinstall in original locations. If starter is noisy during cranking, remove one .015 inch double shim or add one .015 inch single shim to the outer bolt. If starter makes a high pitched whine after engine start, add .015 inch double shims until noise ceases.
Disconnect battery ground cable, then raise and support vehicle.
Remove starter braces, shields or other components that may hinder starter removal.
Support starter and remove mounting bolts.
Lower starter and disconnect solenoid wires and battery cable.
Remove starter from vehicle.
Reverse procedure to install.

 

Should be two terminals on the starter. (that are actually used.....) A fat one, that should ALWAYS have power, and the skinny one, that should have a purple wire going to it. If you have greater than 9 volts at the purple wire with the key in the start position, and the starter doesn't do its thing, replace it.

You could try and whack the solenoid with a hammer a couple times, and see if that improves its attitude, but, judging by the symptoms you describe, it is past time for a new starter......

Good Luck.

 

punched into the starter it says "No Shims"....

and i thought the other wire was the ground.....there was no power to it at all even when he was holding the key to "Start" position....

and the bracers are the hard part....it looks like you have to take out the motor mount to get the bolt out.....and the thing blocks the bolt that holds the starter on.....such a dumb design...

 

Might wanna figger that one out before condemning the starter then. There should be a nice fat red cable that goes from starter to batter.... or, a terminal on the fender well somewhere, and THEN to the battery. Got power at that one?

 

hmmmm, im going to have to check tomorrow....hes my boss so i see him everyday since i pick him up for work everyday.

 

well today i swapped the starter relay and then tried again.....the selenoid was now clicking....

i finally got the starter out and the teeth on the starter are all chewed up.....took it to get tested, and indeed the starter was bad....picked up a new one, and going to put in tomorrow.