Starter, relay, advice for 1991 LeBaron 3.0V6

billccm

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Dec 21, 2009, 11:33:41 PM12/21/09

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Hello:

Well, my LeBaron almost stranded me at work tonight. No crank. I could
hear a faint click, all power accessories were there. Battery voltage
was 13.

I closed the hood, and tried it once more, and it started (good, this
car can keep it's reputation of never stranding me in 19 years of
ownership).

I have the starter off the car in a box ready to go for core exchange
tomorrow.

It just occured to me that my starter relay may be the fault? I guess
I should replace the relay just to be safe? I know I am throwing parts
at the car, but so would my mechanic in this case of a intermittent
crank condition.

BTW, this is the car that I thought had a faulty ignition switch,
since multiple attempts would eventually get the car to crank.

Also, this car has the BOSCH starter. It was replaced with a rebuilt
unit 11 years, and 44K miles ago.

So, advice, or opinions on starter, starter relay, or both
replacement, please!

Take care, Bill

KirkM

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Dec 22, 2009, 9:24:58 AM12/22/09

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This sounds like the usual bad solenoid contacts problem. I thought
that only Nipondenso starters had this problem, and not Bosch.

KM

Bill Putney

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Dec 22, 2009, 9:46:29 AM12/22/09

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Is the Bosch the one with the round contacts that you could remove and
replace. I remember some starters that you could do that on, you could
either swap the positions of the two old contacts or lift them out and
turn them 180� in their keyed orientations (I forget which - I think the
latter) - the worn part is mostly on one side of the circle, so by their
being rotated 180�, you're providing mostly new contact surface.

But I don't know if that's the starter with that type of contact. Maybe
someone who really knows will reply.

--
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

billccm

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Dec 22, 2009, 10:32:38 PM12/22/09

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Well, she is all back together. The new-rebuilt starter cranks the
engine twice as fast as the old one. I juts bumped the starter and she
fired quickly. Hopefully I am good to go. Thanks for all of the advice
and replies. Merry Christmas, Bill

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KirkM

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Dec 23, 2009, 10:53:04 PM12/23/09

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So it was just the starter. Did you replace it with another Bosch, or
another make?

KM

billccm

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Dec 25, 2009, 10:22:44 PM12/25/09

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I went with a Bosch reman from PepBoys. The starter I pulled out was a
Bosch, and PepBoys offered a "ProStart" reman for $64.99, or a Bosch
"certified" reman for $94.99. Both hade a 12 month warranty, but I
spent the $30 more thinking I would get a better starter. Perhaps I
just wasted the extra money?

This new starter sounds like an airplane taking off. It seems to spin
the motor so much faster.

I also spent the $11 more and swapped out the starter relay while I
was at it. So far, the car seems to be fixed.

Take care, Bill

William R. Walsh

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Jan 6, 2010, 4:19:20 PM1/6/10

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Hi!

> Perhaps I just wasted the extra money?

I don't think you did. While anyone can do a bad job of remaking something,
it seems like the store brands have more of those than anything else. I'd
favor the unit remade by the company who built it to start with, and I'd
have probably done the same thing.

> This new starter sounds like an airplane taking off. It seems to spin
> the motor so much faster.

It was probably time, then. The last starter motor I did actually fell apart
when I dropped it off the engine. I don't know how it even still ran--not
well of course, but it did.

William