Starter won't do anything but click.

[KallyI]

I had my starter rebuilt last January, due to that wonderful 'Chevy' problem, where the starter turns over, but does not engage the flywheel, until about the 3rd or 4th attempt. It worked fine, until this past Saturday. A few days prior to it's failure, on the way to work, the previous Monday, I noticed the voltage running about 11 volts, instead of the usual 14, but, it came up to 14 about 10 miles from home,(it's a 30 mile drive). All was fine until Saturday. When I started the truck to head home, the voltage was down again, so before I pulled onto the highway, I shut it off, thinking that it might correct itself, with a restart. That was the WRONG thing to do. It has refused to restart. All I get after the glow plug cycle, when I try to start it, is a click, and the lights die, during the try. The lights, horn, heater, etc, all look normal. I had it towed home, and checked the voltage, on each battery, each tests over 12. I tried turning it over, while giving the starter a sharp rap, and still, just a click!
Any ideas, other than the starter is fried again??

[TurboDiverArt]

Have you cleaned the battery terminals lately? How old are the batteries? Check and clean the alternator terminal. Also, test the alternator. I would try all ov these before thinking about changing a $250 starter.

[HowieE]

Well I thought you were having the same problem I am having of a click when attempting to start.
In my case I am assuming it is old contacts in the selinoid. In your case with the lights dying I would look for a short in your starter that is drawing that amount of current.
If you take the starter down try not to move the armature as you do and remove the selinoid and test for a short in the starter while it is still in it's original position. If you rotate the armature while removing it you may not see the short when you test it.

[KallyI]

Thanks for the replies. The batteries were installed this past July, so they are about 6 months old. I cleaned the posts yesterday, so I'm fairly sure that's not the problem. The alternator was rebuilt in January 2001. I'm not sure how to test it without the truck running, and right now it won't start.
As for the lights dying, the truck has daytime running lights, and I believe that they die, or dim out when starting, normally, so I may have given you a red herring. I am going to install the battery post 'upgrade' from the R & R section at this site, and see what happens. If I do have to drop the starter, I will try to do what was suggested, and keep the armature in the same position.

[TurboDiverArt]

Don't know if the headlights normally dim when starting. You should be able to either watch the volt gauge if equipped. Another easy way is to leave the door open and watch the dome light. It will dim a little when starting but will not go out. If it does then you have low voltage for some reason to the electrical system.

Art.

[ChevyDooley]

Had this problem on my tahoe. Chased it like a putz all down the starter and ground wires. Turned just a bad connection on my positive terminal battery. Did the bolt trick I did with my diesel and voila!

[tbuck]

Don't know if this is your problem, but this happened to me.
I replaced my worn out starter and about two weeks later it did the same thing as yours. Just a click, but sometimes after turning the key about ten times, it would turn over and start the truck.
I had the truck in the shop for an unrelated problem and when I picked it up he told me the solenoid was bad on the starter. I took it back to NAPA (I got the unlimited warranty starter) and got a new one. They said that the solenoid checked out ok but they didn't hessitate to give me a new starter. Kudos to NAPA.
When the symptoms first started, I too did all the things that everyone else recommended. It's a good start.

[KallyI]

Thanks for the info tbuck. Since I got the starter rebuilt at a place that is quite familiar with these starters, I am waiting to find out if they offer any sort of warranty on their work. The shop was closed till January 5th, for the holidays, so I will check with them then. Hopefully it is covered.

[rapidoxidationman]

Have the batteries load tested. The unloaded voltage can easily be at or above 12V even on a bad set of batteries, but under the serious load the starter imposes a marginally good battery will drop to a low enough voltage to crash the whole system. The alternator can also be load tested at the same auto parts store that tests your batteries, all you gotta do is pull it from the truck.

Checked the fluid level in the batteries lately?
Regards,
Rapid

[KallyI]

An update on the problem. I dropped the starter on Friday the 9th, and took it to the shop that rebuilt it. They put it on the bench, and of course, it spun over beautifully. My jaw dropped, and they told me it must be my batteries, my alternator, etc. I asked them to check it further, and mentioned that I had heard of other starters with a faulty solenoid that caused a voltage drop, and so on. The upshot was, they replaced the solenoid under warranty. Then came the fun part, reinstalling it. The small wire to the starter is much too short, and I didn't have enough hands to hold the starter up, put the wire on, and prevent it from dropping while I did that, plus it's been cold, and the truck is outside. Anyway, I soldered a wire extension, about 18" long, and was able to attach it, and get the rest into place. I also made sure all battery connections were spic and span. The truck started up 1st try. It starts better than it has for years, so I'm pretty happy!!

[KallyI]

A further bit of news on the starter. Yesterday morning, after a night shift, the starter would not do anything, again. This time, I got it towed to the shop that rebuilt the starter. I tried it right after it was put in their shop, and it still wouldn't do anything. The technician tried it 15 minutes later, and it engaged the starter just fine. That got him scratching his head. The batteries tested fine, as did the alternator. He ended up replacing the neutral safety switch, but he isn't positive that it is the problem. It cost me $200.00(CDN) so I hope it is.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

I've had exactly the same symptom as yours with my 95's, but it only happened when it was cold out. (In fact, the Sub is presently doing exactly this.) When it gets warmer out, the symptom disappears.

The last time it happened, I took the hair dryer & heated the starter in the area of the aluminum casting that the solenoid attaches to - I did this for 10 or 15 minutes. (Boy, was that fun! Laying on the driveway when it's -10