Re-Man'd Starter dead after 1 year?

[2mAn]

**Moved this from the quick question, just in case this pops up for others later**

Can heat from the header heat up a starter to the point of failure?

My 13 month old starter isnt doing its job anymore, its spinning but its not spinning the motor.

Do I need to replace the entire starter or can I replace the solenoid? Anything I can do to prevent this in the future??

For the work involved in the R&R of the starter, I would just go ahead and put in a gear reduction starter and be done with it. It’s a reasonable cost, and smaller. Yes, I believe the heat in that area contributes to a shorter life. Gear reduction starter is smaller so may allow more airflow and a longer life, just an assumption, not fact based.

**my reply**

I thought the one I had bought was a gear-reduction unit, but I was a complete newbie at the time. I'll have to ask Will to confirm this



Heres a video I took the other day when I nearly lost my mind...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/149500009 ... 640139502/

Im pretty frustrated by this whole situation as I thought this problem was solved, and now the R&R is going to be a nightmare and without really cranking out the work in my free time I will miss the Monterey Historics...

I just want to make sure that this will be the last time I deal with it, at least for a long time. Not a year

[2mAn]

**most recent reply**

Looks like a gear reduction starter to me....
Regardless, starters were never an annual replacement item. Many of these cars have starters that are 10 years old or more.
I have no idea how old my '68 2000 starter is but the starter on my '69 1600 is 6 years old.
Have you taken the starter to an auto parts store to verify that it's faulty? Is is possible there is some other fault here? Loose bolts, slipped ring gear, missing or badly worn teeth on the flywheel, poor connections, etc?
Dan

Thats my thinking too... why is this happening now and how do I prevent needing to change the starter again in a year.

I havent seen what the flywheel looks like, so I cant say if its on that end.

Im trying to avoid having to pull it, but it seems inevitable right now and with the clock ticking and little free time, Im hoping the community can help me avoid a big headache

[Curtis]

The new gear reduction starter I put in has been great. There has been mixed reviews on the reliability as I recall. Some lasting well and some failing right away. Nature of the beast I guess.

I would not even consider a re-manufactured one. New ones are only about $60 or so.

If someone has removed (in most cases butchered) the splash guard under the fender you can change it out pretty easily.

http://www.311s.org/PDFs/SB%207_29_64_S64_26.pdf

Your video sounds like it is kicking out too soon.

[Curtis]

Here is a photo of the removed panel on my car. When I had the rust repair done I had them set it up for a removable panel. I haven't got around to making the panel as yet.

[notoptoy]

If that was a new, or even rebuilt starter, I would think/hope it would be under warranty. I can say that the quality of a rebuilder varies greatly. I have gotten some real crap, unusable, returned as soon as opening it type crap, from various rebuilders. I have also gotten new parts that were questionable - namely car parts from China for a German Auto - ball joints and suspension parts that were brand new yet failed in under a year.

[Linda]

It's helpful to have a good starter harness and clean connectors to get full power moving around.
Curtis makes an excellent starter harness. The stock one can get baked.
Linda

[2mAn]

Here is a photo of the removed panel on my car. When I had the rust repair done I had them set it up for a removable panel. I haven't got around to making the panel as yet.

I dont quite have that much space, but I do have some access to it from that location

To answer the first question, YES!! I had a 66 Mustang with a 289 and headers, and if I got the headers hot (think driving triple digit speeds for a period of time), the starter would be baked and seize. That being said, your issue sounds like a solenoid or bendix issue. My old Ford didn't have the solenoid, so I can't speak to that.

I believe its the solenoid also, and I think I can remove that while the rest of the starter is in the car, but I just want some confirmation from others that A) its likely the issue; B) it was caused by the heat; and C) there are replacements out there

[2mAn]

It's helpful to have a good starter harness and clean connectors to get full power moving around.
Curtis makes an excellent starter harness. The stock one can get baked.
Linda

We upgraded the power cable to a 4ga wire from the battery to the starter, its huge haha

Seeing the pic Curtis posted, its reminded me that I need to add the ground, mine hasnt had one... could this also have been an issue?

[Curtis]

The ground is certainly a plus. if your negative battery cable is hooked to the block then it shouldn't make much difference but more grounds are good. The ground from the block to the frame helps the rest of your electrical system work well. Sounds like the bendix or solenoid to me.

My original Datsun 1600 starter would just grind along slowly and eventually start the car. The gear reduction starter has changed that. But as mentioned virtually all these starters are made in China and quality is mixed.

[Linda]

The other wires have to be good and making contact in the connector, and yes the ground is important. Break out the electrical contact spray ....
Linda

[2mAn]

The ground is certainly a plus. if your negative battery cable is hooked to the block then it shouldn't make much difference but more grounds are good. The ground from the block to the frame helps the rest of your electrical system work well. Sounds like the bendix or solenoid to me.

My original Datsun 1600 starter would just grind along slowly and eventually start the car. The gear reduction starter has changed that. But as mentioned virtually all these starters are made in China and quality is mixed.

This is new territory to me, but it appears the solenoid comes off with two phillips head screws and I believe they can be replaced. Is this true?

The other wires have to be good and making contact in the connector, and yes the ground is important. Break out the electrical contact spray ....
Linda

The other wires all looked good, and the spade connector was on there quite well. Hearing it try and start, it definitely looks like the solenoid is "giving up" too soon. You can see the fan turn a few times and stop, so its only turning the motor 1-2 revolutions

[Gregs672000]

The heat can become excessive in there. I recently noted that the plastic cover for the solenoid wire had melted away. This is with a coated header. Connections there are often the cause of starter connection failures. I have mesh/cloth high heat protection on the wiring, but that does nothing for the starter itself. I recently installed a heat shield around some of my header using Heatshield Products armor plate, which included running it down the header to the collector which helps to shield the starter from the direct heat off tube off #4. The stuff is expensive (got it at Summit online) but very effective. The shielding reduced carb temps by at least 40 degrees, and everything else (brake master for example) does not get nearly as hot. Might just be my imagination, but it seems that the engine has more torque (people talk about increased scavaging)... not why I did it but it might be an added bonus.

Do remove the wheel well plate that blocks access to the starter. You could use a fiber cutting wheel attached to a drill if you don't have anything else more suited to cutting. The plate is not needed... mine has never had it in over 32yrs.

[2mAn]

Greg can you post a link to the stuff you bought from Summit? It obviously gets much hotter down here than the PNW so I think everyone can benefit from that

I have the ceramic coated header as well, but prior to that it was just simply the old manifold with no protection whatsoever

[Gregs672000]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hsp-175102/overview/
Comes in 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch thickness. There are other options if just making a starter shield that may be less expensive ($56 for 12x24" piece and I could have used more to cover the header. You don't wrap the entire tube, see their video). You will need some wire to make ties, though it forms around things well. Take your time, make paper templates to help estimate use/design, wear gloves.

[spl310]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/STARTER-SOLENO ... 0614298703