Sooooo, went and and bought two new Optima 800CCA batteries and had my starter tested. Starter was good. Put the starter back in (Takes me literally less than 5 minutes now)....click. Took out the Mega-Trons, replaced with Optimas...click.

So out came the starter again, I bench tested it and it worked. So if it's clicking then the solenoid is getting power...but if it's not spinning then the power lead from the distribution block must be dead. So tested that...and sure enough the junction for the starter power, glow plug power and battery to junction was dead.

Took off all the contacts and took the grinder to them so they were all shiny copper. Put the started back in again for the 20th time, hooked up the wires. Decided to try it from the key this time and not jump anything...turned the key and it fired right up.

Took the Optimas back out and put the Mega-Trons back in, the Optimas are going back to the store.

So the truck is fixed and running great again. Thank you for all of your help and suggestions. This forum keeps me sane sometimes.

BTW, I also just finished installing the new ATS Aurora Turbo kit...it's amazing!! Love it.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

Mitz starters are still available. bought a new one last month from a local AC Delco parts house. don't remember what I paid though. Really doesn't matter I get my parts at just over cost. between me and my father in law we buy a lot of parts. He owns a few semi trucks

 

Must be "rated" vs. "actual" amps drawn. They told me the "rating" on the physically much smaller PSD starter (smaller moter and gears) was the same as the Mitsubishi starter. The Mitsubishi starter has done very well for me and I am hesitant to endorsing the replacement. I have the OEM Mitsubishi starter in my 93'; it is 15 years old and still starts the truck on the first compression stroke. I have put in two sets of new batteries over the years and still have the factory cables as I clean my terminals every two years or so. Also running the factory altinator. I do a lot of city driving so that starter has had a real work-out over the years. I don't use the starter to fill fuel filters and bleed air and if a glowplug goes I change them immediately so the starter has not seen any abuse over the years which I think is also key. Those long cranks really can do a lot of damage, If you think about 300 amps going into a starter a lot of those amps go to heat so you will overheat quickly.

Seb....

 

Don't forget, the moral of this story. "Are all of your electrical contacts/wires/terminals/etc clean?"

Also, motor size doesn't matter much as far as KW output. RPM's # and type of windings as well as brush and field configurations also play a role.

 

If the new PSD starter is anything like all new things it surely has been refined and is a lot more efficient than the old Mitsubishi and the refinements are to your benefit because the newer units are much cheaper. My only complaint is that I like all the "fat" that was engineered into the Mitsubishi starter that has now been engineered out of the newer starters to save money. I seriously doubt that the newer starters can take the abuse that the old starters used to be able to take for very long.

And I agree that if you don't abuse your starter both units should do fine, but personally I sleep better at night knowing that I will get that darn truck started in the morning even if I need to crank it for two minutes because I got a air leak into my return lines or I have a burnt-out glowplug.

If something works well for you why mess with it.

Seb.....

 

I won't argue with durability as I've never had a psd starter apart. But from what I understand its inline gear reduction, (?)planetary too? Instead of a 3400(?)RPM motor, its a 10~15,000RPM motor. The only advantage I know of is less starting wattage requirements.

I always just rebuild my starters. Keep after em and usually all you need to replace is brushes and bushings/berrings. >20.00 in parts.

Another little known fact. Knowing what the nose housing style/size, tooth count, and shaft length you can find a starter for any application. Figured that out trying to find a new 12V starter for my oliver 0c46. Funny thing is, turns out a DelcoRemy direct drive IDI starter works perfectly.

 

Yeah the factory starters are pretty tough. My factory starter finally went out about 3 months ago which is a good while considering my truck is a 92 and i can remember when it was nothing for my dad to crank on it for a good 2-3 minutes trying to prime the pump back up when it sits not to mention 1 or 2 dead glow plugs