33 replies to this topic

[lastchance]

quick answer: http://www.amazon.co...|1984&carId=002

bosch rocks my world, those reman starters from advance/auto zone/o'reilly are a joke. i blew through four starters thinking it was everything from the ignition switch, to the switch harness, to the relay, to the battery, to the cables, and so on.

long answer: i bought a multimeter, printed the wiring diagram out for my car and started troubleshooting. the mature, realistic approach to old subarus far trumps quick fixes and stupid money wasting crap. after everything checked out (relays, fuses, etc - continuity across circuits, voltage where it should be and so on) I bought the NEW bosch starter above and it's never started better. the old one was returned to advance where it blew the breaker on the bench testing machine twice (something was obviously grounded internally) and the guys were thoroughly amazed the starter was "that bad".

note to self - use multimeter first rather than just throwing money at it, take your time to really think about what's happening and why, then move on and make repairs.

[Cougar]

Glad you got it working. The bad short inside the starter was most likely due to the head of the stud bolt for the main cable connection. The bolt can be over tightened which causes the square head inside the starter to move and then contact chassis ground. When power is applied to it....Blam.

[lastchance]

Glad you got it working. The bad short inside the starter was most likely due to the head of the stud bolt for the main cable connection. The bolt can be over tightened which causes the square head inside the starter to move and then contact chassis ground. When power is applied to it....Blam.

i see. i'm always worried about breaking or mucking up stuff on the car, looks like the incredible hulk approach isn't always good. :-p

[Cougar]

Yep, you got it. All you need is reasonably tight. If the stud does turn and cause the problem it is pretty easy to turn it back slightly and clear the short. Over tightening the battery post clamps is a real common problem. It stretches the clamp out and damages it. Tightening the clamp just enough so it dosen't turn on the post is good enough and making sure the connections are clean are a good thing. It is amazing how many folks have electrical trouble just due to dirty battery connections that get over looked.

[lastchance]

starter is dead again. :banghead:

what are the chances the flywheel teeth are gnarled up, causing me to burn through starters?

[naru]

Easy enough to inspect the teeth with the starter removed.

I had trouble w/the wire between the battery and the fusible link box on my 84 turbo.

What does the multimeter say this time?

[lastchance]

Well, battery (brand new Optima RedTop) was showing 10.8v at rest, hooked it up to my trusty Shumucher charger and got it back to full charge in no time. Also threw in new 2 gauge battery cables and cleaned the connections super well. Battery goes back in, starts right up no problems.

Never underestimate low battery charge levels.

[porcupine73]

Hm maybe they hadn't charged the battery in a long time. I have a yellow top that is 10.8v at rest too. Unfortunately yes it will still start the car but it has shorted cell in it so its not ideal. Optima suffered some quality issues a few years back, seen many postings of shorted cells. I switched to Odyssey after that.

[lastchance]

I bought the battery in June, installed it, drove it maybe 5-6 times (short distances, 17 miles total) that month and then let the car sit until last week. I'm sure not letting the alternator do work and sitting in a cold shop for 5 months killed it.