Starter Does Now

[Kneale Brownson]

I got my car with the nonfunctional starter home from the ski hill parking
lot Tuesday (just a little pull with the V8 and pop the clutch in gear
started it right up).  Following Peter Schulz's suggestion that the starter
wiring might be corroded, I pulled the starter out Wednesday.  The stud on
which the big power wires are fastened was so corroded that I broke it off
the solenoid trying to get the nut off.

The starter shop guy showed me the inside of the metal tube that's the body
covering the Bendix assembly.    All rusted up inside, although the
gear/shaft/bearing stuff was free of any rust.  The old solenoid also was
corroded just terribly.  The guy said it's a wonder it's started at all
this fall.  He surmises that whoever rebuilt the starter for the previous
owner didn't apply any sealing material during the assembly and the fool
who installed it didn't do anything for the connections either.

Got the starter back late Wednesday because UPS was real late getting the
shop a new solenoid, so I waited until today's sunlight/warmth (ya, yu
betcha--I work on cars on a cement slab outside) to hang that thing
back.  I polished up all the connectors, applied dielectric grease to
everything and (after reconnecting the battery) it fired right up.

Got the radio recoded and the clock reset to the correct time and I'm
hopefully all set for restarts the rest of this winter.