To be exact - the fender relay throws but the starter does nothing. No click, no grunt, no nothing.

I have the starter out now, looks nice and fresh - which is reasonable since its only 2 years old. The gear seems to not retract very well, we were having that problem in operation. This is definitely a direct drive unit, no gearing.

But... since this bellhousing could be anything, what is this business of "high-mount" vs "low-mount" starters?

H

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1964 Dodge W200 Power Wagon

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OK, might you have a volt/ohm meter, and/or know how to use one? I suggest you pull a voltage test at both sides of the new starter relay, and see if you're actually getting voltage to the starter.


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Back to the volt/ohm meter. As long as it's out, try getting an ohm reading from the hot cable terminal to starter housing/ground, through the starter.
I strongly suspect these are a permanent magnet, DC motor with brushes. It could be that the brushes failed. (I've seen too many chinese motors with brushes, where the carbon material the brushes are made of are rather soft, and wear away rather quickly.)


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Being as I have no direct experience with the low-mount, early direct drive starters, I'll have to defer to someone else for a good answer to that.

Roger

Had the unit over to the Auto Parts place on their super-whiz-bang test-o-meter. Looks like the brushes and/or bearings are toast, motor will not run at all.

H

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1964 Dodge W200 Power Wagon

With shot brushes, there's no continuity through the windings, so no current flow, and no rotation.
There might be bearings, but I suspect it's got bushings, not true bearings.
I don't know if one can find quality brushes to swap out in it or not, only a decent automotive electrical guy could tell you that.

Roger

Man, I can't even get a Chinese rebuilt at this point from the auto-box stores. Gonna have to actually have the thing rebuilt by the electric shop.

A sign of the times, gentlemen...

H

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1964 Dodge W200 Power Wagon

Why do you say that like it's a bad thing...?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

It turned out to be a good thing, in fact. Turns out that "Pro-Amp" parts are a trade name for Tucson Alternator Exchange. So, the unit was one of their rebuilds - who knew? The nice people there took it in, and had it fixed in 2 hours. No charge. Love these folks!

The problem was the field wiring literally burned in half. No good theory on why, but they overhauled the unit, so hopefully we are good to go for awhile.

End of problem.

H

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1964 Dodge W200 Power Wagon

Well, there ya go! And they're local to boot. Any chance they'll sell over the counter if you need one again?

Roger