starter problem

[Dauber]

I have owned this 83 burb for about a year now, maybe put 4000 miles on it. I can not get it to start, I had a melt down about a month ago witch burned the fusible links by the starter. I replaced the fusible links and it started right up. The a week later it did not start again. This time I replaced every battery cable and it started right up. Another week went by and it did not start, it only clicks when trying to start it, batteries are fully charged. I think the melt down may have been caused by the starter spining after start up so I was going to change the starter out. When looking though the paper work from the guy I purchaced this from he replaced the starter in '99,'01,'02 and '03! are the starters this bad on these things or what is going on??

[john8662]

Starters... been there, it's really not that surprising to see that many starter replacements on an 83. I worked on an 83 6.2 van that every year, didn't matter, I had to change the starter (usually near winter). It would either start spinning the engine over slow or wouldn't work at all.

Sounds like you will be pulling the starter, as if It's getting power from the solenoid and just bad. But you will want to check some things first, verify that the batteries are fully charged, the the connections at the batteries are good (you've already done this) and finally the connection at the starter.

If the starter isn't under warranty, most times you can take it to a local shop that does alternator and starter repair and they will test it on the stand for you. Most of the local auto parts chains have this equipment too.

I also noticed a trend on the rebuild starters, if its got the 1 year warranty, you will probably be replacing it often. If its the the lifetime, sometimes better results. I had really good results with a reman starter sold under the Autolite name, its still working, and I haven't had to mess with another heavy starter replacement on that ol 83 in 3-4 years now.

Another alternative to the factory starter is the later model gear reduction starter that was used on early 90's 6.2's and all of the 6.5's. Its the 28mt starter, you can bolt it right up relatively easy, all you need is a new bracket for the back side of the starter. The only thing though, is that the gear reduction starter doesn't quite crank over the engine quite as fast as the ol big heavy starters (especially the autolite reman).

[ 12-22-2004, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: john8662 ]