'97 F53 460 Rexhall - Starter Troubleshooting

[Brecklundin]

ummmm, i never noticed this connector but it looks to have been on the large lucks for the starter relay.

My questions are...what is it for and am i right that it connects on each of the large lugs?

EDIT: Ok i do remember the connectors. I noted them as i removed the nuts. I just remembered them as individual wires not a molded rubber unit. That brain cloud fixed.

[TeJay]

You are noticing things that will help you with figuring out some of this stuff.

Any time you see larger lugs like you have it is always connected to larger gauge wires that have to carry high amperage current for the battery starter system. Those heavy gauge wires will be positive and negative. If the wires were smaller gauge like 12, 14, 16, 18 etc they would get hot and burn up.

[eddieelk]

I remember back in the day, you slid under the car, and gave the starter a couple of wacks with a hammer to get it going. That was the days when I could actually slide under a car. Nowadays, I can't even recover the keys when they're a couple of feet under the car. Don't bother asking how they got under the car. Eddie Elk.

[Brecklundin]

Originally Posted by TeJay

You are noticing things that will help you with figuring out some of this stuff.

Any time you see larger lugs like you have it is always connected to larger gauge wires that have to carry high amperage current for the battery starter system. Those heavy gauge wires will be positive and negative. If the wires were smaller gauge like 12, 14, 16, 18 etc they would get hot and burn up.

super TeJay. Those are the details it helps to discover.

The lesson i learned early in with this beastie was don't assume wire color is consistent between positive & negative on 12v side. I never have trusted AC wiring and check before attempting to replace a receptacle.

Back at it today. Had some metabolic weirdness that put me down for a couple days. All back to normal, whatever that is, today.

[Brecklundin]

Originally Posted by eddieelk

I remember back in the day, you slid under the car, and gave the starter a couple of wacks with a hammer to get it going. That was the days when I could actually slide under a car. Nowadays, I can't even recover the keys when they're a couple of feet under the car. Don't bother asking how they got under the car. Eddie Elk.

hahaha boy don't i know it! Thank goodness for jacks & jack stands.

I did try the tapping on the starter but nothing. Back at finishing the starter relay replacement. If no joy the tje starter comes out for testing. Pretty easy to get at this one. And it also gave me an excuse to buy a couple new ratchets.

[Brecklundin]

Originally Posted by TeJay

There is a very distinct difference between a starter that is spinning freely not connecting with the ring gear (flywheel) or one connected to the flywheel and cranking the engine slowly or just cranking it and the ignition is not firing or it's not getting fuel.

If you've been around vehicles even just a few years you should know the difference. Knowing what it's doing determines your next step in diagnosis.

just reread and uou describe it well. I guess it's been the starter struggling for a few minths now not low battery. It did make not a grinding sound but a sluggish sound as if struggling to work. Going aftrr it while it's sunny and & warm. wish me luck...

[Brecklundin]

yaaay! Got the bugger out today. Was interesting....the spindle definitely does not spin smoothly. Tried by hand and can feel it sort of grinding and small jerks as i turn it.



Putting installing replacement tomorrow weather and hands permitting.

It was interesting NAPA had best price in replacment for buying locally. Was still almost 2x more expensive than Rock Auto but if it's not right i can just walk into our NAPA that's been here over 40yrs. $125 went and replaced the relay even though it tested good. The earlier warning they are failure prone makes spending the $26 in the relay switch worth it to have a backup.

I was caught by surprise with the starter going bad. It has just 31k miles on motor...but I'm sure age, dust, moisture and such took their toll as well...

Anyway, this is fun stuff...and really thank you everyone for having patience with my some times off-center goofy side. Trust me I read and retain all the suggestions and guidance.

[Brecklundin]

After a fair number of new swear words, Got it installed the other day.

Installation was not hard just took some extra stubbornness on my part. I'm working on my girl w/o the jacks working and my floor jack is currently elsewhere.

There is fair amount of room under mine. Had to pretty much lift the starter with one arm. was able to just rest starter in opening to flywheel. After that just cobbling together the correct combo of ratchet extensions, which proved i need a wobble extension and a couple wobble adapters. Never heard of them before this project.

It was all worth it once i took my seat and she fired right up nice & strong.

.....then something else happened...

[HJLowell]

Congratulations

I love to need new tools for each new project.

Wife says

You saved $300. In labor with $36 or $60 something with a few new tools.

Now we can go out to a nice Dinner with all that savings.
After 49 years
She still gets it [emoji6][emoji41][emoji106]