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Strange Starter Noise

Lost_Wrench

NAXJA Forum User
Location
CO
96 XJ 175k.

I replaced my starter about a year ago and it has been driven approximately 8k miles since then but there is a weird sound that the starter makes that has become increasingly more common.

When starting it cranks very normally but mid crank it will often "slow down" or "bog down". Its like there is one bad crank amidst all the other good cranks that sounds like it's slow motion or about to die before it catches again and the cranking sounds normal. The Jeep always still starts but the increase in frequency now has me worried. The noise happens very quickly amidst the normal cranks but is very audibly noticeable.

Battery voltage tests fine and my terminals are tight and clean so I'm not yet suspecting the battery. Anyone ever had a starter that sounded like this?
 
My first thought would be bad battery or cables along with a bad starter. Has the battery been load tested at the battery and at the starter?
 
Like he said, get your battery load tested.

Also check the battery connections at the other ends (grounds, starter).
 
Ok thanks, load testing and wiring inspection is up next.

The first time it did this (made the slow crank noise) was maybe a few weeks after I installed the new starter. It would then go weeks or maybe a month before I would hear it again. Now it happens about once out of every 5 startups and sometimes twice in a row. It was a brand new starter not a refurb fwiw.
 
What brand?
 
What brand?
I wish I could remember. Ordered from Rockauto and I know it was new and not remanned. Since its a good possibility I'll be buying another one soon are there manufacturers I should avoid? Conversely, what names do you recommend?
 
My path was to rebuild my own starter.

GrimmJeeper's pics are gone from this thread, but mine are still there: How to rebuild your starter

Note that GrimmJeeper's symptoms sound very similar to yours.

I have made it a point to pull a couple of extra starters from the junkyard so that I have cores to rebuild. The one I rebuilt for those pics is still going strong, and it has been a solid 10 years.

I don't know if you still have your original laying around, but if you do, I would rebuild it and swap it in. If that solves the problem you will know the replacement was poorly built. That is no longer such an anomoly as one would hope.
 
I don't have much faith in starters/alternators these days but after 50yrs my go to is still Bosch.
 
Interesting, I hadn't considered rebuilding one myself. Thanks for the writeup link.

I'll see if I can track down a Bosch. There's a remmaned Bosch on RA but I would prefer a brand new version to start.

*Unrelated to the starter topic but I want to post some pictures to the forums, I saw folks mention uploading to imgur first and then posting a link? Do I need to create an account on imgur? I also read someone else say they uploaded photos to their profile and then posted from there but I can't figure out how to do that either.
 
To post pics here you need to be a member, for photobucket or imgur you'll need to open a account.
 
If you suspect your starter (it might be), I'd look into any warranty first. Go back to RA and look up past orders. Some of them have 2+ years on a new starter.

I had a '87 Nissan P/U truck that had a bad starter, Bought one at a local Autozone (Limited Lifetime Warranty). Something like 8-9 years later, it went bad. Went back to replace it, expecting to pay (brought the old one as the core). Still had the Duralast sticker with PN. They put it on their load tester, it failed and gave me another starter under warranty. Not suggesting you get a Duralast, just recommending you check into the warranty status.
 
UPDATE and new symptom

On my way home from work today I stopped to get my mail so I shut off the Jeep while I walked into the post office. When I got back into the Jeep and turned the key it cranked a few times normally and on the 3rd crank it did the "slow motion" crank and then very suddenly died completely. No ignition power whatsoever for a couple of minutes, as if the battery was 100% completely dead - no signs of life at all. Then on my 10th or 12th attempt at turning the key it randomly started up and I drove home normally with the air conditioning and headlights both on and no problems. First thing I'm checking tomorrow is grounding wires (again) but what else should I look for that would cause it to die so abruptly while cranking only to snap back to life just as randomly and suddenly several minutes later?
 
Could also be a bad battery!
 
This morning I tested the battery with my multimeter before attempting to start it and it read 13.15v. I turned the key on and heard the FP prime but it wouldn't crank at all and I just heard one click. I turned the key off and tried again, this time I got nothing not even the FP primed this time. I tested again with the multimeter and it still reads 13.14v. So I'm definitely thinking battery related but I'm confused why the voltage tested ok if it is a very dead battery?
 
Because the battery is not under load. That's why load testing is important. It may show OK when there's only milliamps of draw, but fail when the starter demands more than the battery can provide.
 
Because the battery is not under load. That's why load testing is important. It may show OK when there's only milliamps of draw, but fail when the starter demands more than the battery can provide.
EXACTLY !!!
 
UPDATE: 6 months late sorry. My intermittent starting/no start issues ended up being old rotten cable connection at the negative terminal. After load testing the battery (it was good) and cleaning the heck out of the posts and terminals I was still having problems so I trimmed the cable back and made a new connection at the negative terminal. It wasn't immediately evident but once I removed the cable it was pretty corroded underneath and the copper was turning that green oxidized color. No more symptoms since July now but I do need to probably just replace the battery cables soon.
 
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