Shagg

So the starter on my truck likes to spin, but not engage. Basically, I will go to start it and all I get is the spinning, eventually it engages and starts almost immediately, The longer the truck sits for, the longer it takes before the starter actually engages. I had the starter bench tested, and it works. The starter solenoid is fairly new, so I doubt thats the problem. The battery itself I had tested at 2 places. the first place said it was only giving out 180 cold cranking amps, and that I had to replace it asap. Since its still under waranty I took it to the place I got it, they tested the battery and said it was in perfect shape, so I plan on getting a third opinion somewhere else. So basically what I am asking is do you guys have any ideas what I should be doung to troublshoot. are there any electrical connections in the starter, relay, or solenoid that I should test, and what voltage should they be giving me?

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

sounds to me the bendix is bad in the starter, which is what actually throws the gear out to engage the flywheel and then the truck starts, that or you have a bad spot in the flywheel

raski

As stated, the Bendix has issues. It's easier to just replace the starter. You don't want to run it like this long because if it starts working, the Bendix may not retract prperly and can mess up your flywheel.

Steve83

There is no solenoid on an '89 starter, and the Bendix IS the gear; it's not what makes the gear move out.


(phone app link)

If that style of starter spins without driving the ring gear, the Bendix has probably failed. It's not something a bench test will detect. Buy a better starter - I prefer MotorCraft, if you can find one. Use the PNs in that caption to check Amazon, eBay, RockAuto, TascaParts...