recurrent starter failure in a 97 Z-71 w/350

roden001 · April 2, 2005

A buddy of mine has had to put three or four starters in his truck (97 Z-71 with a 350). I have read that heat from the exhaust can cause early failure of a starter (and that a heat shield can be purchased to correct this), but I was wondering if there were any other explanations I should consider.

He basically has a situation where nothing happens when he turns the key. This will be kind of intermittent (cranks some days, some days nothing), for a while, then it won't work at all. After replacing the starter, he'll have several months of no problems at all, and then it'll start acting up occasionally, progressing to more often occurences, until, like above, it won't do anything at all. He says when it's to the point that it sometimes works, he can get under the starter and tap on it with a hammer, and it seems to help.

What do y'all think?

Wingnut · April 2, 2005

I think he may be having battery cable issues, not starter issues.

VERY common on those trucks.

snoman · April 3, 2005

I think he may be having battery cable issues, not starter issues.

VERY common on those trucks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would agree as I have seen it. I can sometime take more power o start a hot truck than a cold one and he may have battery issues as well with a battery that does not load test well when hot.

GM-Tech · April 3, 2005

We had one, around the same model year actually, that had the same problem. Trust me, we went over that electrical system with a fine toothed comb.

The truck was fine up until the first time the starter was replaced (by us) and from that point on, he came in repeatedly for starter problems. It's been a while but I'd guess we put four or five in at least. And these were GM starters, not some mickey mouse, $20, discount auto starter. Apparently, GM starters are not that much better than that.

That dealership closed down in '99. That's probably the only thing that saved us from living with that truck for the rest of it's life.

Sorry, no revelation here. We never could figure out what was causing the failures.

snoman · April 4, 2005

We had one, around the same model year actually, that had the same problem. Trust me, we went over that electrical system with a fine toothed comb.

The truck was fine up until the first time the starter was replaced (by us) and from that point on, he came in repeatedly for starter problems. It's been a while but I'd guess we put four or five in at least. And these were GM starters, not some mickey mouse, $20, discount auto starter. Apparently, GM starters are not that much better than that.

That dealership closed down in '99. That's probably the only thing that saved us from living with that truck for the rest of it's life.

Sorry, no revelation here. We never could figure out what was causing the failures.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Long. long ago I have a full size chevy car with a big V8 and the starter used to act up when hot. I replace starter and it acted up again shortly there after. I finailly replaced battery on a whim and the problem never came back.

Chevy Tough · April 4, 2005

Usually you can get one of those starters that have a rubber solenoid on top, it protects it from the heat the exhaust manifolds puts out.

mcreyaufmiller · April 4, 2005

battery cabel problem. have him remove the cables and clean them. replace the lug and reassemble the entire unit. Should fix the problem.

roden001 · April 4, 2005

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

For those who suggest battery cable problems, let me pose two questions:

1. If this is the case, could I prove it (right or wrong) by using jumper cables to jump the main battery cables (i.e. red jumper cable from pos terminal to starter, black cable from neg terminal to block), thus bypassing any potential problems with the cable connections?

2. If the problem were not directly related to the starter (such as the case with cable problems), why would each new starter work for several months before the problem resurfaces? If the problem is unrelated to the starter, it seems that a brand new starter would act up just as often as a six-month old one. Is that not right?

Thanks again, guys. Keep the suggestions coming.

etex211 · April 16, 2005

If tapping on the starter makes it work, then that is usually a surefire sign that the brushes are worn...

It sounds like he's going through a series of junk starters. I absolutely hate rebuilt starters and alternators. I always try to rebuild my old one or get someone else to rebuild my old one.

Does this truck have one of the old big starters or one of the newer gear reduction mini starters?

snoman · April 16, 2005

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

For those who suggest battery cable problems, let me pose two questions:

1. If this is the case, could I prove it (right or wrong) by using jumper cables to jump the main battery cables (i.e. red jumper cable from pos terminal to starter, black cable from neg terminal to block), thus bypassing any potential problems with the cable connections?

2. If the problem were not directly related to the starter (such as the case with cable problems), why would each new starter work for several months before the problem resurfaces? If the problem is unrelated to the starter, it seems that a brand new starter would act up just as often as a six-month old one. Is that not right?

Thanks again, guys. Keep the suggestions coming.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Jumper cables directly to starter have a pretty high resistance (power loses) so if the starter is appearing to fail because of high current demands the jumpers will not "fix" it because though the help a bit due to parrallel resistance rule it may not be enough.

2. This one is a bit tougher. It is possible that you burning out your starters in interval of 6 months or so due to high usage of heat in starter area in your installation but also the current draw of a starter is not constant and they tend to draw more as they age and sometime hot starts can use more power than cold starts. I may in fact be a starter issue but given the problems you have had you need to rule everything else out too. If you have not replace starter power cable yet I would do so (tstarter cable and ground lead to engine block with at least 4 ga wire and 2 ga on the longer starter lead would not hurt either.