Reasons for Replacing

The first thought that you might have a problem with your starter would be the fact that your car either cranks slow with no loss of other electrical consumers or it becomes noisy when turning the key to start the engine. As starters age they become very tired, just as you will when you get older.

The amount of electricity that passes through a starter in it’s lifetime is amazing. A known good starter draws about 150-200 amps during cranking. When they wear out they begin to increase the amount of amperage by 2 to 3 times(400-600 amps), assuming that the battery can handle it. Think about the number of times you turn the key on your car every day, year, or decade. Chances are, if you’ve owned a car longer than 10 years then you’ve had a starter fail or give you problems at some point during that time. If not, then your on borrowed time.

Starter Testing

If your starter is drawing a large amount of current, refer to the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing to learn how to perform a test and read the results for the starter current draw.

Starter Recommendations

From my observation over the years, I truly believe the factory starters that originally come on your car are the best and longest lasting starters ever. Regardless of the manufacture. Yes you can go and get an aftermarket re-manufactured starter for 1/3 the cost of a factory starter, but they do not last as long. Look at it this way, if you really like the car and plan on keeping it for a long time use a factory starter. If it’s a car that you just want to get rid of, save yourself the expense of a factory starter and buy an aftermarket one.

Difficulty Scale

This is an advanced skill level job. It requires access from under the vehicle when removing the starter and it’s mounting bolts.

Tools for the Job

• 1/4″ ratchet
• 5/16″ socket
• 3.8″ drive ratchet
• 10mm socket
• 13mm socket
• 3/8″ extension 12″ long
• 10mm wrench
• 13mm wrench

Prep for Starter Removal

Locate the starter to be removed. Once again the subject being worked on is a 1995 Monte Carlo with a 3.1 liter V6 engine. Even with very little access, the starter is only held on with 2 mounting bolts, 1 trim cover, and 2 nuts for the wiring.

The starter is located toward the front of the vehicle close to the bottom of the engine.

Note: If you don’t have an automotive lift for accessing removal of the starter, refer to the How to use a jack and stands article for helpful knowledge on using a jack and stands to aid in the replacement of the starter.

Considering that we are working with a component that is wired directly to the battery, the first and most important thing to do is to disconnect the battery before servicing the starter.

All side post batteries have a 5/16″ or 8mm socket size to remove the battery cable.

Important Electrical Caution!!!

Always remember, when disconnecting the battery remove the negative terminal/ground cable first!!! This is to prevent any possible contact with surrounding grounds.

If you touch a ground no problems can occur if your removing the ground cable. On the other hand, if you contact a ground while removing the positive of a live battery you can short circuit the battery and do significant damage to the vehicles electrical system.

Removing the Starter

After disconnecting the battery, use the 13mm wrench to loosen and remove the nut holding the battery positive cable to the starter.

Remember that if the battery was not disconnected this would be a live wire and could short to ground if inadvertently touched when replacing.

Use the 5/16″ socket with ratchet to remove the S terminal wire from the starter.

After jacking up and supporting the vehicle, now is when you need to access the starter from underneath the car. Once under the car locate the starter bolt cover.

Using a 10mm socket and ratchet, remove the cover hold down bolt. This will allow access to the main starter mounting bolts.

Remove the front starter bolt with the 13mm socket, extension, and ratchet.

Remove the rear starter mounting bolt.

Be prepared to support the starter when removing the last bolt. Now the starter just need to be removed.

Noisy Starters Take Note:

Whether the starter that you are replacing was making a loud grinding noise or not, it’s always wise to check the teeth on the flywheel for wear.

Before you install the new starter, check the flywheel teeth where the starter mates up to for turning the engine.

Rotate the engine from the front crank bolt while watching the flywheel teeth looking for any shiny or worn spots. Most of the time when the starter makes a grinding noise it’s damaging the flywheel teeth when they mesh.

By carefully looking at all of the teeth you can make sure that no damage is present that could cause damage to the new starter. Worn flywheel teeth can damage and/or shorten the life of the new starter.

The down side to needing a flywheel is that the transmission will need to be removed for access to replacing the flywheel. Yet another post that will soon come.

Re install the new starter in reverse order and re-test using the Battery, Starter, and Alternator Testing post to test the new starter for proper operation.

Estimate for Repair

(check with your local parts stores for current prices)
Parts to replace
Using aftermarket parts you can purchase a remanufactured starter for around $90. New starters around $200.
Labor to replace
This job should cost approximately .5 hr. labor to test the starting system and 1.5 hrs. to replace the starter assembly. (Example: 2hrs.@ $80)
Parts and Labor
Re-man price/ $250
New price/ $360
Note: Factory parts and shop labor rates will be higher depending on type of repair shop and location.
Time to replace
This job should take an experienced technician approximately 1.5 hours to complete

Purchasing a Tester

For those who continually invest money in tools for their job, here’s a piece of equipment that is a must have item. There are several different types of electronic charging system testers out there, this one is from Mac tools. These testers vary in price from $199-$399. The great thing about electronic charging system testers, is the ability to test and have results within 2 minutes.

Having the correct tools for the job is the most important part of diagnosing and repairing automobiles. Testing the battery, starter, and alternator is an area where improper diagnosis can be costly. With the correct tester this job can be diagnosed within a couple of minutes.

Before testing the battery or any other electrical issues, making sure there is voltage present with no corrosion or poor connections is the first step into diagnosis. For more battery and electrical maintenance tips refer to the following posts:

• Battery Knowledge
• Battery Cleaning
• Check, Test, and Replace a bad car Battery

Here is a step by step procedure on how to perform the 3 individual component tests that makeup your charging system. The tester used in this article is the Accuracy Plus tester from Mac tools.

1-The Battery Test

Hook up the battery tester color coded clamps. Red to the positive terminal of the battery and black to the negative terminal of the battery.

Once powered up, the tester will guide you through each step of testing.

The first thing the tester will ask is what the CCA or cold cranking amps are.

Input the amount indicated on the battery and press go. (Battery rating – 550 CCA)

This is the amount that the tester will “load” or take away from the battery to see if it meets the rated capacity.

After pressing go, the tester will load the battery two times within 20 seconds. Then it will show “battery good” or “battery bad” on the display and the actual amount of voltage and CCA’s tested. It’s that easy.

Battery condition good.

Test results, 12.6 volts and 510 cold cranking amps.

Battery Test Results

If this battery was bad, it would show low cranking amps. 510/550 is a good test result. If the voltage tests lower than 12.0 volts, the battery should be charged and re-tested.

2-Starter Test

Immediately following the battery test, the tester will instruct you to start the vehicle.

At this point the starter current draw will automatically be tested. (The starter results will show up at the end of the last test)

Starter Test Results

Good test results should be no more than 150 amps of current draw. Any amount over 200 amps could put excess drain on the battery. This could cause problems during the winter months and may even shorted the life of the battery over time.

3-Alternator Test

This is the final of the 3 tests for the complete charging system.

With the vehicle running, you will be asked to press go and increase the throttle to 1500 RPM. During this time (approx. 15 seconds) either jump in the car and rev up the engine…

…or look for the throttle cable on the engine. Increase the RPM slowly until the tester tells you to maintain the RPM.

The alternator will automatically be tested by simulating the maximum amount of load devices that could be turned on from your vehicle and record the output. It will also test the internal voltage regulator functions as well.

Here is the measurement of output from the alternator under a load test. (14.2 volts)

Alternator Test Results

Good results would be an increase in voltage by approximately 2.0 volts. (12.5 volts before starting, 14.5 volts running) The tester will show “diodes good” or “diodes bad” as a result also.

Final Results

When the test is finished, you will be instructed to turn the vehicle off. The complete evaluation of the charging system will scroll through for you to read. Here are the items tested:

• Battery load test – with voltage and CCA results
• Starter current draw test – with amount of amperage and voltage used
• Alternator output test – results with load and no load voltage and amperage output
• Alternator/Regulator – internal function test of the voltage regulator diodes

Final Thought

This tester is one of the most user friendly testers available. It’s also one of my favorite pieces of test equipment to use. If there are any electrical problems found on the vehicle being tested, the tester will tell you and stop with any further tests. This allows you to replace the faulty part and retest after the problem is fixed.