Starter madness

Wow what a quest. So last Saturday did a 20 minute drive. Parked and after only getting one click, sound coming from starter. Since I’ve done.....New starter, new ignition, ignition switch, new battery, new starter relay, checked the Park/Nuetral safety switch.

pulled new starter, it tested bad, 2nd new starter....tested it before install....even jumpered the switch wire to it while out and it was working good. Have good ground at block and good voltage at starter main post wire. Put the 2nd new one in and again just one click. Not popping any codes besides what I pulled off w intake manifold to get to the starter and the switch wire was working as I said when it was out.

It sounds like the starter shaft is only popping out partway and maybe hitting something? That’s what it sounds like to me but idk. I looked at a little casing just inside casing where starter goes in and measured to make sure that cleared. Seemed fine. Put a rat Jon the crank and the motor turns over. Totally out of ideas at this point. Thanks for any help.....

 

Lot of electrical work - could the starter be failing to get enough amps?

 

I would check the cables. Perhaps a bad connection on one of them.

Just me.

 

Yep. Sounds like battery cables.

If it's a failure of the starter gear to engage you would hear a 'whirring' sound as the starter spins without engaging the flywheel.

 

I'm going with cable issue. Either loose ground, corrosion inside the cable, and ... fml, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. Why the hell doesn't anyone ever check the cables first? It's always the easiest solution and solves the problem in like 1/3 of cases with almost no disassembly of the engine.