New starter fixes slow cranking.

[Steven Petersen]

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I was having a slow cranking problem. Even a new Delco battery made hardly any improvement. I was suspicious of the starter so I ordered an older GM unit off Ebay. It was an OEM rebuilt by GM in 1994. Never installed. What a difference. It cranks so much faster now. The old starter I pulled out looks like OEM, except the nose cone is different from the GM unit. It also had a NAPA 2007 tag on it. Can anyone tell me if the old starter is a GM and worth rebuilding?

 

[Schurkey]

The tag says "NAPA NEW" which almost certainly means an expensive, but bottom-feeder Communist Chinese knockoff. You could haul it to the nearest NAPA and have them "test" it on their "machine". They may or may not give you another one depending on how **** they are about having a receipt.

I bet if you open it up, it's got short field coils and short windings on the armature, even though it's built with the supposedly "long" "High-torque" case. Even GM pulled those tricks on some starters.

Might be worth taking the solenoid apart to see how corroded/welded the copper disc inside is; as well as looking at the brushes and bushings.

There's lots of ways these starters can fail. Not every way is easily visible.

I've got a whole shelf-full of those old direct-drive starters. They're pointless on Chevys or Buicks, "everyone" installs a permanent-magnet, gear reduction (PMGR) starter--shorter, lighter, takes less amperage but produces more torque. The PMGR starters are mostly imported and sometimes garbage--a person has to be careful. "Good used" Genuine GM PMGR starters are wonderful when available at the Treasure Yard for pennies on the dollar.

The old direct-drives are OK for engines that don't use the Chevy/Buick nose cone, though. The Olds/Pontiac/Cadillac/Toro-Eldo/Nailhead etc. engine families were discontinued before the PMGR starters became available, so there's no OEM PMGR starters for those vehicles. There's aftermarket "mini" starters, though.

 

[Steven Petersen]

The tag says "NAPA NEW" which almost certainly means an expensive, but bottom-feeder Communist Chinese knockoff. You could haul it to the nearest NAPA and have them "test" it on their "machine". They may or may not give you another one depending on how **** they are about having a receipt.

I bet if you open it up, it's got short field coils and short windings on the armature, even though it's built with the supposedly "long" "High-torque" case. Even GM pulled those tricks on some starters.

Might be worth taking the solenoid apart to see how corroded/welded the copper disc inside is; as well as looking at the brushes and bushings.

There's lots of ways these starters can fail. Not every way is easily visible.

I've got a whole shelf-full of those old direct-drive starters. They're pointless on Chevys or Buicks, "everyone" installs a permanent-magnet, gear reduction (PMGR) starter--shorter, lighter, takes less amperage but produces more torque. The PMGR starters are mostly imported and sometimes garbage--a person has to be careful. "Good used" Genuine GM PMGR starters are wonderful when available at the Treasure Yard for pennies on the dollar.

The old direct-drives are OK for engines that don't use the Chevy/Buick nose cone, though. The Olds/Pontiac/Cadillac/Toro-Eldo/Nailhead etc. engine families were discontinued before the PMGR starters became available, so there's no OEM PMGR starters for those vehicles. There's aftermarket "mini" starters, though.

Apparently they had a PMGR starter in 88. Not sure what application they used it on. You can see in the 88 Unit repair manual.

Before I moved here, I had a really good electrical shop rebuild all my starters and alternators. I was farming and there was constantly something. I even kept spares for tractors and engine drive hay balers I had. I guess with the GM ****** china crap, the thing to do is get old cores and just have them rebuilt.

I was just curious if that NAPA starter was possibly an old GM core. If it’s not, I have no interest in it. If you want it, just send me shipping and I’ll send it to you.

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[Schurkey]

I bought my '88 K1500 5.7L with 170K miles on it, in '97. The starter that was on it at that time, APPEARED to be either original or a proper replacement--still had the front brace on the direct-drive starter motor.

I rebuilt it once, then replaced it with a "rebuilt" PMGR starter.

First Guess: The OEM PMGR starters were on the diesels, maybe on the big-blocks. The V-6 and small-blocks got the old-style direct-drive starters.

Appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. That's a "new" starter, almost certainly a Chinese import.

Walk the thing into your local NAPA. You might get a replacement under warranty, which you could either use later, or sell.