95 GTX won't start

[sschnei]

My son was out on the lake, he turned off engine for a moment and when he went to start it the starter engaged, started cranking, cranking speed slowed down, then stopped.

After getting a tow back, I troubleshoot. There is 12.5 volts on 3 month new battery. Pushing start button I find start solenoid engaging, 12.5 volts from battery to solenoid, 12.5 volts out of solenoid to starter and measure 12.5 volts at starter terminal. The starter doesn't seem to be doing anything and is not putting any load on the battery.

I need to pull starter and see what’s up with it. Any suggestions on what I need to look for?

 

[Dr Honda]

If you are holding 12.5v at the battery when trying to crank the engine... then the starter is going. If it's an actual Denso starter... order a rebuild kit, and replace the brushes. But... you will want to check over all the cables, and make sure they aren't loose, or corroded.

 

[JCzGTX]

Before that, I would pull the plugs and see if it cranks over easier without the compresison. With them out if it is cranking slow, to me that shows the starter doesnt have enough arse left for compression, and is a little better with the reduced resistance. From all I have read on here, don't buy one of those eBay starters from China.

Pulling starter:
I would mark the case (sharpie works great) and pull it open. Probably a ton of brush dust in there, clean out what you can and see how everything looks. I do remember in the manual for my '97 is shows measuring with calipers if you want to get in the weeds that much on it.

 

[sschnei]

Thought I’d share my findings and results.

Removed starter from engine….be careful not to drop any bolt like I did or you’ll spend more time fishing for them than working on the repair! Cables looked good and connections were clean.

Using a sharpie I marked an index line across the side to help me on reassembly. Removed the 2 nuts holding the rear bracket, then the two long bolts which hold the starter together.I was then able to remove the back end of the starter and found the brushes worn past wear limit.

I chose to buy the two pieces that make up the OEM brush set for about $40. Installing the new brushes is fairly simple. I added a couple drops of motor oil to the end bushing prior to putting the back over end the brushes. Installed the starter back on, and dropped the lower mounting bolt again…damn.

The good news is I got it all back together, the starter works perfectly.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Seadoobuddy]

Glad you got it running.....

Another $200-$400 repair bill saved by this forum. I've probably save more than 3 times that amount with the help I've gotten in the past year.
Who knows if some of the things I've done (change fuel lines for one) saved me from a blown motor sometime in the future.