Solenoid engages, gear doesn't spin- bad brushes?

[AFK]

I dropped the starter out of my 88 C1500 and put 12 volts across the large stud and the small stud, the solenoid pushes the starter gear out into the nose but the gear doesn't spin. Would this be worn brushes?

Update: After some more googling, I put 12 volts to the stud jumping the solenoid to the starter body and it spun so looks like a bad solenoid thankfully.

[john8662]

That's what I was thinking, check the wire going into the electric motor.

What starter do ya got, direct drive (MT27) for gear reduction (MT28)? The solenoids are different.

[AFK]

I think it is a 28MT, The solenoid was $190 and special order from Autozone so I just went with a salvage yard starter from a 1997 6.5L.

[john8662]

Keep your other starter for spare. I've seen better deals than that online for the solenoid. I've picked up a few solenoids for less than $50 shipped. I also encountered the same issue with Autozone and Oreilly's. They wanted slightly less for just the solenoid than a complete reman starter. I'm certain that's intentional.

Another thing to try might be a local alternator and starter rebuild shop.

J