$^&$#$%^$ starter

[loki223]

So, more of a rant than anything else, my starter has been going out for the last month or so. well, not the starter, but the solenoid. so i go to take it out and take a good look at the greasy bolts, and say...hey they look about 10 mm...but my 6 point 10 mm wouldn't fit, the 11 was off, and the 9 was to small. so i was like wtf....than i realised, for some reason dodge decided to use 12 point bolt heads for the starter. wtf dodge...any other head, common or uncommon, i've got bits for. but all of my sockets are 6 points because they don't slip, and don't round off bolt heads, like a 12 point can do on a 6 point head. So i look around, find one 10 mm socket for my 3/8 drive, but the head on the 3/8 is to big. at this point i am getting very disgruntled, i tried adapters and u joined, but by the time you get that on your out of room. so you are forced to use a 10mm 1/4 drive, or a wrench. which go figure, all my wrenches are 6 point as well. (you would never guess i hate 12 point set ups) so after an hour of messing around, looking for tools in my random stuff bins, i finally brake down and run to the hardware store and picked up a ratcheting 10mm craftsman open head wrench for $10. i figure if i am gunna buy a tool, i'll buy something i won't just throw away after the project. lol. but after i got that, everything worked out great. just pissed that dodge used 12 point bolts...but now i got a starter with a life time warranty...so its not all bad. lol.

 

[mikelr]

Don't blame Dodge.... the starter comes on the motor from Cummins as a package. Look into the repair kits they have for those starters, they are cheap. Usually it's just the mechanical contact inside the bendix housing that gets pounded to the point of failure.