Dodge trucker
Senior Member
12 ram 1500, 4.7
My starter is doing the occasional dead spot thing. Maybe 2x/day or maybe once a week I'll hit the key and "nothing". Hit the key again and starts fine. Usually only takes a 2nd hit in the key to turn over and run but on occasion it has taken as many as 4 hits on the key to activate the starter.
I think it's a dead spot on the starter armature. And acts up if the starter happens to stop spinning on last start in just the wrong position.
(I think anyway)
Anyway, that's back story.
I found a Lucas brand reman on eBay for a Fantastic price, they shipped quickly too.
The new one been behind the seat for a couple of weeks, just in case/ but I had it up on the lift for an oil change yesterday so I figured "might as well swap them" before I'm doing it in a snowdrift somewhere...
It went right in, easy one to access.
I noticed that the small terminal on the new one was above the 2 big starter lugs on the replacement, where on the original it was below the lugs when looking at it as mounted on the truck. I noticed this but didn't think much about it at first.
So I let it down, reconnected the battery (which itself is no more than a month old--- starter was acting up with the old battery just the same, but the old battery was 7 years old and it's getting cold here, so I changed it)
Went to hit the key and the new starter spun fine but it wouldn't engage. Like the bendix wasn't extending. ( Mostly newer fords, that's all we have at work)
So I put the original one back in.
I contacted the seller and explained the situation and they instantly refunded me and said I don't have to send it back since I already installed it.
My question is this/ I have tried hot wiring a starter as a test (never this one) with a screwdriver across the big lugs more than once and had the starter react the same as this new one does.
Being the solenoid terminals seem upside down compared to the old one (but otherwise look identical to the old one) I'm wondering if they simply put it on upside down, if the lug that the wire that goes thru the starter case is really supposed to be on the opposite lug, and the lug currently connected to that wire should be the one connected to constant battery hot instead?
Unless there's some kind of cast in location tab on the starter body where the solenoid only goes in one way, all it would take to find out would be to disconnect that lug feeding the starter and the 2 thru bolts, spin the solenoid 180* and bolt back up....
The goofy part? According to the eBay listing this starter is the one for my truck. Or I wouldn't have bought it. When I emailed them to tell them it wasn't working right they replied that they don't have any for my year make and model. They have a different catalog system at customer support than on the eBay site. Other than the position of the small terminal on the solenoid vs the old one, everything looks identical to the old one. Nose cone, bendix gear, size of case, everything. And it bolted up like it belongs there.
My starter is doing the occasional dead spot thing. Maybe 2x/day or maybe once a week I'll hit the key and "nothing". Hit the key again and starts fine. Usually only takes a 2nd hit in the key to turn over and run but on occasion it has taken as many as 4 hits on the key to activate the starter.
I think it's a dead spot on the starter armature. And acts up if the starter happens to stop spinning on last start in just the wrong position.
(I think anyway)
Anyway, that's back story.
I found a Lucas brand reman on eBay for a Fantastic price, they shipped quickly too.
The new one been behind the seat for a couple of weeks, just in case/ but I had it up on the lift for an oil change yesterday so I figured "might as well swap them" before I'm doing it in a snowdrift somewhere...
It went right in, easy one to access.
I noticed that the small terminal on the new one was above the 2 big starter lugs on the replacement, where on the original it was below the lugs when looking at it as mounted on the truck. I noticed this but didn't think much about it at first.
So I let it down, reconnected the battery (which itself is no more than a month old--- starter was acting up with the old battery just the same, but the old battery was 7 years old and it's getting cold here, so I changed it)
Went to hit the key and the new starter spun fine but it wouldn't engage. Like the bendix wasn't extending. ( Mostly newer fords, that's all we have at work)
So I put the original one back in.
I contacted the seller and explained the situation and they instantly refunded me and said I don't have to send it back since I already installed it.
My question is this/ I have tried hot wiring a starter as a test (never this one) with a screwdriver across the big lugs more than once and had the starter react the same as this new one does.
Being the solenoid terminals seem upside down compared to the old one (but otherwise look identical to the old one) I'm wondering if they simply put it on upside down, if the lug that the wire that goes thru the starter case is really supposed to be on the opposite lug, and the lug currently connected to that wire should be the one connected to constant battery hot instead?
Unless there's some kind of cast in location tab on the starter body where the solenoid only goes in one way, all it would take to find out would be to disconnect that lug feeding the starter and the 2 thru bolts, spin the solenoid 180* and bolt back up....
The goofy part? According to the eBay listing this starter is the one for my truck. Or I wouldn't have bought it. When I emailed them to tell them it wasn't working right they replied that they don't have any for my year make and model. They have a different catalog system at customer support than on the eBay site. Other than the position of the small terminal on the solenoid vs the old one, everything looks identical to the old one. Nose cone, bendix gear, size of case, everything. And it bolted up like it belongs there.
