[mviker]

Guys...

Have any of you rebuilt one of those high torque mini starters that Ram Air Restorations sells?

I bought one 5-6 years ago. Worked fine, but died about 3 years ago. I bought another one and I think it just bit the dust too. They aren't cheap. Rather than buy another one to add to the collection, I'm wondering what's involved in rebuilding them or if that's possible.

It's behaving as if the battery is dying, but I know I have a good, charged battery. Acted this same way on the the first one too, so I'm fairly confident it's the starter again.


Thanks!

Kevin

[mviker]

Ahh jeez... May be ignition. I jumped the horn relay with a couple screwdrivers and she cranked right up. Shut her down and tried the key again and she played dead. Ignition switch? If so... can they be taken apart and be cleaned?

[64catalina]

Make sure you have a good right sized ground wire. poor grounding can cause a lot of seemingly unrelated problems

[gtoguys]

I have the same problem with my 63 GP. Instead I put in a relay to send voltage down to the solenoid. Since I don't have a show queen, problem solved for now.

[mviker]

64 Cat... I don't think this is a grounding issue. I put in a new M&H harness a few years ago and ran a few extra grounds where I thought there may be an issue as well as all new ground straps on the engine.

Pretty sure it's the ignition as the purple wire that goes to the horn relay comes from the ignition switch, right? I can jump the battery to the connection at the relay going to the starter and it's a strong turnover, but when turning the key, it's nothing.

gtoguys... I like your idea as a temp fix, but I can probably locate and buy a replacement switch relatively quickly off Ebay or another source. In the mean time, I will probably just jump the battery to the starter at the horn relay when I take the car out. Seems to do the trick pretty easily.

Thanks guys... I appreciate your ideas.

Kevin

[Ziggy]

Besides the ignition switch, check your neutral safety switch.

[lust4speed]

I'd also be suspicious of the neutral safety if you have absolutely nothing. Rattle the gear shift lever while holding the key in the start position, and see if the starter comes to life. Set emergency brake and keep your foot firmly on the brake since the gear shift could travel far enough to hit reverse while trying this. Hate those kind of nasty surprises.

[mviker]

I'll have a look at that, but it should not be the problem. I bought the little jumper doohickey thing from Fabcraft to bypass the neutral safety. shouldn't be an issue, but it's possible maybe it's become disconnected or something.

I spoke with a buddy of mine has a 62 Bonnie. He's had similar troubles. Replaced the ignition switch and still has this problem. I'm starting to wonder if maybe it IS the solenoid on the starter again. Maybe turning the key is supplying power, but not enough, but jumping at the horn relay is giving it a full 12 volts from the battery so it's working?
This happened suddenly... was out driving, all was well, then bam... went to fire up the car and it acts dead. Plenty of juice in the battery still. Interior lights nice and bright.

Ram Air Resto will rebuild those mini-starters for around $50. I had one done years ago, but it took them months to get it back to me. I spose I'll send one off to be done and just put up with the starter problem for the time being.

[AROWHED]

One of these, jumpered between starter solenoid and battery, will help rule out a bad starter solenoid quickly.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/an...FQYIaQod3xcNLg

[63 Pontiac]

I had a problem with the purple wire, corrosion starts at the exposed ends and creeps up from there. Clipped off the bottom inch or so and crimped on a new connector and haven't had any problems since.

[form74]

Originally Posted by mviker

Guys...

Have any of you rebuilt one of those high torque mini starters that Ram Air Restorations sells?

I bought one 5-6 years ago. Worked fine, but died about 3 years ago. I bought another one and I think it just bit the dust too. They aren't cheap. Rather than buy another one to add to the collection, I'm wondering what's involved in rebuilding them or if that's possible.

It's behaving as if the battery is dying, but I know I have a good, charged battery. Acted this same way on the the first one too, so I'm fairly confident it's the starter again.


Thanks!

Kevin

My mini starter from Ram Air Restorations is 10 years old and still working with no issues, as others suggested you have another problem.

[64catalina]

I still vote grounding. I had similar issue years ago thought it was the autozone starters ( not the best parts but good warranties). Drive for 10 min. stop and come back won't start. 2-3 hours turning off and on running errands and then nothing or click of death. then another starter put in started right up...
Until someone reminded the importance of good grounding.
Put on pinky size ground from from battery to engine and body.
Same starter since.
Good luck

[mviker]

Originally Posted by 64catalina

I still vote grounding. I had similar issue years ago thought it was the autozone starters ( not the best parts but good warranties). Drive for 10 min. stop and come back won't start. 2-3 hours turning off and on running errands and then nothing or click of death. then another starter put in started right up...
Until someone reminded the importance of good grounding.
Put on pinky size ground from from battery to engine and body.
Same starter since.
Good luck

I have all new grounds. Put an additional ground as you mentioned from battery to the frame long ago. I also have a ground coming from the voltage regulator body to the battery. I also have the case of the generator grounded along with a ground directly on the starter. I think I have the grounds covered. That doesn't include additional grounds I did under the dash and at the rear of the car.

As I mentioned earlier.... I can also jump from battery positive to the purple ignition wire and the car fires right up, but when turning the key, it doesn't want to play. I have a good battery. I was thinking ignition switch, but am inclined to believe it's the solenoid.

Ram Air Resto will rebuild these starters for $50. I have a spare, so I think I'll send it in for that rebuild and take it from there.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[lust4speed]

While all your grounds are important, the path from starter frame to battery is the one that counts, but as long as all connections are shiny, there shouldn't be a problem.

A few years ago I went over to a friends house to help trace down his starting problems. spent quite a bit of time working with the friend and we really weren't getting anywhere. We decided to pull the battery and swap it out. My friend undid one of the battery connections and before he could get it off the terminal the #2 wire pulled out of the terminal end. The end looked fine, but poor manufacturing produced a cold solder joint that just wouldn't carry the high current load when the engine was hot. It was really an accident we found it because we would have never thought to think about such a nice looking cable failing. Not that this is your problem, but you just never know what you are going to find, or where you're going to find it.