The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay How to rebuild a starter.....

Alright....

For some reason my truck isn't wanting to turn over. I've gone through and cleaned up my grounding connections clear down to shiny metal and replaced my batt to frame ground strap with a 2 gauge cable (the frame to engine block ground strap was just cleaned up, and not replaced) This improved the condition from not turning over at all, to turning over only once or twice.

I've measured to voltage of my battery right before trying to start, and it reads around 5.8 volts. Is this enough?? I'm planning to replace the positive cable (not sure what size it is, probably around 4 gauge) with a bigger 2 or 1 gauge. But if that doesn't help what then? what would one have to do to rebuild the original 6 volt starter? I suspect that this might be PART of my problem. I know that lots of places sell rebuilt starters, but I'm trying to save a few bucks. I've looked around at some of the usual parts websites, but no one seems to carry a 54' starter rebuild kit (same goes for a generator rebuild kit. would it be just the brushes?).... HELP!

Something that might help to diagnose the problem. I recently jumped my 6-volt system with a 12-volt Batt. When doing this is turned over geat! (no surprise) but could I have damaged something?

Before I went to the trouble of rebuilding the starter I would make darn sure your battery is not the problem. If I remember correctly, a bad battery (not one with a shorted cell) will read almost the same voltage as a good one. 5.8 volts doesn't sound high enough. Have someone due a current test. Also, someone like "Atomarc" should be along who will correctly know what a 'hot' 6-volt battery reads in a static condition. Good luck.

sounds like a weak battery to me, it might hold 6 volts until you put a load on it(starter draw) and thgen it falls on its face, get it tested at a parts store.

Any single lead-acid cell will read 2.1 volts, so a fully-charged 6 volt should read 6.3 volts. It's also a good idea to check the acid strength with a hydrometer (the glass tube with a rubber squeeze bulb and a weighted float inside). Full-charge specific gravity should be somewhere between 1.2675 and 1.300. A battery with specific gravity below 1.250 is too discharged to load test. A totally discharged battery will have a gravity reading below 1.100.

With the load of a normal starter cranking the engine, not a draggy or shoirted one, a 6 volt battery's terminal voltage should not drop below 4.5 volts. If it does, you've probably got internal problems in the starter. A starter running with no engine cranking load should not drop battery voltage below 5 volts.
Jerry

Hooked up my multi-meter to the battery to see what happened to the voltage when I tried to start the truck. Sure enough, it dropped below 1 volt when I hit the starter.... Sounds like a new battery is in the cards for me. Thanks for the help guys!