Is there anyway to tell if the starter is about to die?

B2300 2.3L 1994

 

Yea there are a few ways to tell. How well does the starter spin the engine? Does it seem like it pulls a lot of amps like lights dimming more than normal this could also be caused by bad connections or failing battery.

 

Lately, I have to start my truck 2 times to fire up the engine.

 

You crank it twice but does the starter still turn the motor over as good as it once did or does turn the motor over a lot slower?

 

Hmmm ... the starter cranks and stops, then I have to restart it again.

 

You can get for less than $100 at autozone or any auto store like that. Real easy to swap it out shouldn't take you a half hour even if you haven't done one before.

 

Do you think it's a starter issue though?

 

I'd have the cranking amps/cold cranking amps tested on your battery or check for a loose or dirty connection on the battery before I'd replace the starter. I'm sure most part stores will test your battery for free - it's better to have it tested in the vehicle because most good testers will detect bad connections even if they look good, because some "bad connections" can actually be an internal problem with the battery if a post connection is cracked or corroded. Takes all of two minutes to test battery/starter/alternator with the proper tester.

 

Or you can take the starter out and have that tested to.

 

Battery is pretty new, less than a year old. Do you know the one they sell in ebay any good?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-M...Q5fAccessories

 

With a 99.9% approval rating, their electrical parts must be pretty decent for the price.

 

dosen't sound like a starter problem from how you described it. try turning the key to the on position, then back off for a couple seconds a couple times, then crank it over and see if it fires the first time. Does it always do that when you go to start it or only after it's been sitting for a while?

Or maybe im confused by your description. :)

 

Most of the time, it starts up by turning the key first time.

 

Ok I'm gonna hack this thread, are the starters different for each engine or will a 4.0 starter work on a 3.0, etc?

 

pretty sure they're all different.

 

Thats what I was thinking too, oh well

/end hack