I'm scared to try it because I don't want to be shocked to find out that I'm not that good yet.

I bet I'll be that good 3 starters from now. d'oh!

 

Okay, I just jumped the starter directly, and it just spun. I believe that rules out my truck's electrical connections. I'm about to take the starter out, measure the distance from the mating surface to the flywheel. Then, I'll bench test the starter, and measure from the mating surface on the starter to where it extends out. I'll then compare the numbers.

When I jumped the starter, it sounded like I heard a metal clang right when it started spinning, and then just continued to spin.

 

Take a look at the teeth on the starter gear And flywheel, make sure they are the same. Just incase the gear is hitting the flywheel and not able to engage

 

The issue is resolved. I figured it out on the bench test that I had been hooking them up wrong. There's two wires coming from the truck, a big one and a little one. I was hooking up the little one to the medium sized post. I didn't even realize that there was a smaller post right above that one, somewhat concealed by the medium sized post. When I removed the starter, I guess I didn't unhook that top one because I didn't see it. The weight of the starter must have pulled the connector right off the wire.

I can post pictures of exactly how and why I was doing it wrong, but I think that's a waste of time. I'm sorry everyone for making you guys waste brainpower on what amounted to be a bonehead mistake. I feel like the dumbest person on the planet right now.

 

 

Great new BuckHammer hey we have all been there. Good job sticking with it and figuring out the root cause. We all learn from others mistakes, right. Just think if you brought it in and paid someone to find the problem, now that would really suck.

Later..

Mike

 

Hey good to hear you got the situation resolved. How does your truck start now?

 

Like Mike said, paying someone else would suck but finding out what happened, you would feel even worst finding out the mistake after paying someone else to do it. Thanks for telling us what had happened, there are no dumb questions around here. George, be nice! Oh, sorry, I guess you can say anything if you have a smile on your face!

 

Hey, I even asked about It being wired right

 

Didn't know it could be wired wrong .. so I learned something today. Still thinking about that second connection that was mentioned?

 

Yeah, the truck starts and runs fine now. The new starter works about twice as good as the old one did. The old starter was definitely weak before it went bad totally. Again, thanks for the help, guys, even though it was just a bonehead mistake on my part.

I didn't really even know that the little stud was there, because when I was looking at it from under the truck, it sort of "hides" behind everything else on that cap on the end of the solenoid.

I took the truck for a road trip this weekend, right after I made my previous post. It ran great, and having the engine turn over twice as fast as before while starting really put a smile on my face. I guess the upshot is that I learned quite a bit about starters, and what can potentially cause them to fail. I also learned not to take even the simplest of tasks for granted, such as getting the wiring right on the starter.

Again, thank you guys so much for the help, even though I feel like I wasted a tremendous amount of everybody's time.