On my 6th starter and going out.....!

[bigantlers]

I had a few messages on this forum a few months ago about my starter problems but they just won't go away! I just put my 6th new starter in since April and it's already going out after only two weeks. I bought the vehicle, a 1981 Wagoneer 258 with a 727 torq-flite back in April. It went thru about three starters, about one a month, before I put a new ring gear flex plate in it in June (cause the ring gear fell off the flex plate!) - I put the one the books call for in it which looked just like the one I took out. So since then I've went thru two more starters and now another is going out. They start out sounding just fine but after a week they start grinding gears. So it goes on and on then finally the starter over heats and burns up or it gets to grinding so bad it won't start the motor. Now, as with the old flex/ring gear, a little burring is starting to show up on the ring teeth. When I install a new starter it fits just fine and goes in perfect, and as I said, works great for a while - then bingo! Gear grinding or burn up- Why???????? What the heck is causing this? I've talked to people until I'm blue in the face over it and no one seems to know what to do or what to check for.....HELP!!!!!

[TheGossert]

Years ago, I had a similar problem with my 1972 (v/8) LeMans, so I bit the bullet and bought a high performance, heavy duty, super-duper, kick-*** starter and I never had another problem. I believe the unit I bought was custom made by a high-performance boat builder. This unit was far beefier than stock. When my starter fails on my '91 GW, I'm buying another one of these monsters. Larry

[kyjman]

Ok bigantlers I know what you are going through....my 1982 258 went through about 8 starters before I got a good one....What happens is that they work fine for awhlie, then the bushing in the nose cone wears out and when the bendix kicks the gear out to the flywheel it dont make correct contact. Doowoppguy is right about getting a good quality starter...Another thing to look for is the bolts your putting in. Are they original?? The original bolts have a thicker shoulder and hole the starter aligned better. And finally, just lay the starter up there and line it as best you can, then let the bolts do the rest of the alignment. Good Luck

[nograin]

OK. It sounds like the starter gear and ring gear actually mesh pretty well. If so, then it sounds like the starter. Now it is hard to beleive that you got 6 bad starters in a row, but hey, its possible.

Unless I'm buying a starter from a shop I know, (or alternator), I am now a firm beleiver in buying only from NAPA. I know a number of mechanics who do the same. At least around here, all of the other brands are inconsistant.

Just to throw out a possible cause (other than bad alternators).
Bad feed wire: If the positive cable or any conections are bad you'll get less voltage at the starter motor, making it work harder. Under fed electric motors don't fair well.

[bigantlers]

When I bought the vehicle it had a bad grinding starter in it and I got a lifetime replacement from Auto Zone and it lasted about a month. It started grinding bad and finally overheated and burnt up so they replaced it. The next couple or so ground gears up on me and they wouldn't warranty them so I bought new ones just to keep on the the road. Then up in Illinois at a gas station - with no warning what so ever - I tried to start after a fill up and the starter was stone dead. It would just click once each time I hit the ignition. That cost me a three mile walk to a Napa where I bought a three year replacement starter. Then in May is when the gear ring fell off the flex plate. I drove to Florida and then the Napa starter went out. The motor is hard to start cause of a junky carb - I totally tuned it up right after I bought it. Anyway, with the Napa starter after about a month - It kept running the battery dead before I could get the engine to fire up. Then it got so bad I thought I needed a new battery so I got a 750 amp crank battery and about a week later the Napa starter burnt out. It was so hot I couldn't touch it so I wrapped it in a towel and put it in my back pack and had to walk five miles to a Napa to get a replacement under warranty - it was still to hot to touch when I got to the Napa store. Now what I have is another (the 2nd) Napa starter and it's grinding and getting weaker. It really cranked her over fast at first but now it makes a lot of loud noise turning over and sometimes the gears don't mesh up right and I get that.......whhhheeeeeeerrrr noisethat indicates the starter is not turning and not engaging. Thanks for your inputs so far but I can't see putting a $300 starter in an $800 vehicle.....more thoughts???????

[fredws]

How long, in seconds do you normally crank the engine? If it is more than ten, and that is pushing it, then there is your problem. Starters, especially cheap ones, are not made to crank for extended periods of time. They get hot and burn up. If you are having to crank it that long, you need to fix the problem that is preventing the engine from starting right up.

[JEEPGUZZZI]

I can't prove this, but I think that when I was trying to start my J10 the starter did not disengage. The connections on the solinoid located on the passenger side inner fender were wrong. The motor would start, but I thought I heard the starter keep going. Something to check since you burned a ring gear and your starter was too hot to touch!

[beater]

i agree with fredws. if you fix the carb the starter should last longer. it sounds like your burnin em up.

[mdill]

What is your inital timing advance set at ?, too much static advance
will be real hard on starters as it has to shove the piston up the
hole aginst the burning fuel.

Mike D.

[jeepn]

Just Curious,
Do you have hedders?
Any exhaust routed too close will burn starters
up.
I had an old dodge pick-up that chewed through
three starters in one summer before I fabbed up
a heat shield.

Good luck