Which starter for 5.3, need flywheel tooth count?

[NurseBen]

Attempting to attach my purple wire to the starter solenoid I twisted the post along with the plastic right off. It appears you can not purchase just the solenoid, looking at Summit/Rockauto they show one starter for a 153 and one for a 168 tooth flywheel. Which one? The engine is from a 2011 GMC Savana 5.3, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NurseBen]

OK so on the starter I have no takers but on Summits website during checkout there is only one choice so I must be good. Next question is where does the purple wire attach? I have found a few pictures of ls starters here that have 3 posts, with directions in bold not to connect to the post I was going to connect to. The one is the positive battery, middle is from the harness, and last is solenoid to starter. The way I understood the harness hookup was the original purple wire from my 350 sbc now goes to the ls starter. Thank you for your help

[72MARIO]

The old timers remember when part stores carried solenoids for starters like candy stores carried lollipops. Well, it's a new world order out there now buckaroo.

If you manage to snap one of the cheap ass terminals off your LQ4 junkyard starter while trying to take it apart and clean it because you're an anti-corrosion fanatic all is not lost. Get yourself a new solenoid using universal interchange no. 10475646 and save a couple hundred bucks or a trip to the "recycled parts yard."

For those that enjoy trivia, LQ4 starters are part of the PG260 series of Remy starters. The "PG" stands for permanent magnet geared reduction. That's how Remy reduced the size and weight of their starters.

I copied that from the following post link




http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=555480

[NurseBen]

Thank you for the link, that is a great write up. He did not mention where/how he plugged his wire harness to that aftermarket solenoid though, the aftermarket one looks like the original replaceable ones. The harness I had made for my engine states one of my wires is a "starter trigger- send battery + to the wire only when you want the starter to turn over the engine. This usually goes to your ignition switch in the start position" is this in the ignition switch or would this be where my old hei wire went? The purple wire from 1969 I was attempting to attach to the ls starter is what I believe my instructions state "connects to the starter solenoid on the starter" but after reading about not attaching it to one of the larger of the two posts, which is all my starter has, I'm confused where this goes. Thank you, Ben.

[ls1nova71]

The purple wire from your original harness is the wire you need. By 2011 though they stopped bolting that wire on and it now has a weatherpack connector on it and it snaps into the starter between the two nuts you see. Look in the hole, there should be a terminal in there.

[NurseBen]

I was hoping you would chime in as I've read and re-read through your build threads here and on the ls site. Looking at my solenoid I don't see a place for the purple wire to attach. Can I go with a starter from an earlier year, pre 2011, so I then would have the attachment point? On the picture it's all one piece, the + post, plug for the harness, and the solenoid to starter. Thank you for all the help, Ben.

[ls1nova71]

The connector plugs into this hole, the arrow points to what looks like it may be part of the connector that has been broken off and is still in there. I would try to get that out.

[NurseBen]

Thank you for your quick response! The plug picture does appear to be broke but I don't think it is, the solenoid to battery is the one that just twisted the bolt right out of the plastic. On my new wire harness the plug has just one post as does the starter, it fits good, and I actually drove the donor van so I know it works. I need a new starter so would you recommend a new starter from a pre 2011 that has the three posts and then cut the plug from the harness, it looks like just one wire, attach this wire and my 1969 purple wire to the same post? Thank you again I really appreciate the help.
For the pictures 1st current starter, 2nd original purple wire, 3rd the plug from my new to me harness

[ls1nova71]

Ok, in that pic it doesn't look broken, you would just plug the connector in the las pic into it, and then somewhere further back in the LS harness you would hook the purple '69 wire, or just cut the end of the weather pack terminal and hook it to the purple wire. Does your harness have a starter relay in it by chance? As for getting an older starter, I'm not actually sure, but I would "think" you could, but have no first hand experience doing it.

[NurseBen]

Perfect, thank you. I do, we'll I think, I have starter relay. I obviously know (or don't know) enough to get me in trouble! Electrical is not my strong point.

[LS short box]

I've done a few swaps with that style of starter. Go to the "local" auto electric repair shop and they can replace the solenoid with one with a stud for the purple wire. Good time to have them check the complete starter before bolting it on.

The best LS starters are the ones that use two bolts of the same length. Early LS starters had one long bolt and one short bolt. The shorter bolt side of the starter has been known to break.

I don't what harness you have there but I don't believe there is a relay in the starter circuit because the solenoid is basically a relay. I could be wrong.

[NurseBen]

Thanks for the tip. I do have an old time alternator/starter repair shop close by that I'll swing by and see what they can come up with.

[ls1nova71]

It looks like in your relay pic, that the second one down marked "ST" is a starter solenoid. It also has a purple wire in it. If that's the case, then you would use the purple wire from the truck (the one you pictured with the ring terminal on it) and hook it to the trigger side of the starter relay. Then plug the weatherpack terminal wire into the starter. I would hope your harness came with some sort of instructions?

[NurseBen]

The instructions seem well written but I'm not savvy with electrical stuff. The instructions state "connects to the starter solenoid on the starter" referring to my stock purple wire. At this point I'm looking at buying a new starter but not sure if I should buy a 2010 with the three posts or 2011 and splice my purple wire in. Both ways should work, just want the best way with no strange wiring issues down the road.

[NurseBen]

Sorry ls1 when you say hook to the trigger side of the starter relay are you referring to my picture with the "st" on it, going to the starter?

[ls1nova71]

I would get the same starter that you have since thats what your harness is set up for. What brand of harness do you have? In post 8 the last pic there is a wire labeled 28, that looks like the starter wire. My guess is that wire is hooked to the starter realy if in fact that is what ST means on the relay. A starter relay will have a purple wire coming from it that goes to the starter, one constant power, a ground and then the start wire from the ignition switch, which would be your original purple wire.

[NurseBen]

The harness is from a guy back east, myefi.com, decent price and looks good, just hope it works good. The st is for the starter relay, the others are fans, fuel pump, and ignition. I'll order the original starter as you suggest and splice my original purple wire to the "28" that goes to the starter. Thank you for your help.

[ls1nova71]

If you have a starter relay then you dont want to splice your original purple wire directly to that 28 wire. Post a pic of what all wires are left to hook up and I can probably tell you where to splice in the purple starter wire. Does your harness use the neutral safety switch mounted on the side of the transmission?

[NurseBen]

Perfect thank you. I'm headed off to work so I'll post some pictures this afternoon. My transmission does not have a neutral safety switch on the side, at least I did not see one, just has the shift linkage. Thank again for your help.

[NurseBen]

Wire harness

[NurseBen]

Wire harness

[NurseBen]

Wire harness

[NurseBen]

Sorry for all the posts, sent from my iPad. The last picture; bottom pick wire, my instructions say "to run to a reliable keyed hot source, this is battery positive only when the key is on and when the engine is turning over in the crank position" this I believe was going to be to my old hei wire in the fuse block.
The next wire is blue that goes to BCM which I'm not using
The next is #26 purple, "starter trigger - send to battery positive to the wire only when you want the starter to turn over the engine. This is usually goes to your ignition switch in the start position or a push button start button. This is not the same as the large gauge wire that goes from the battery to the starter and alternator" This is the wire, I think, that is my original purple wire. I tie this harness wire to my original purple wire then to the third post on the solenoid.
The last wire on top goes to the TCC which I have read up on and feel good about.
Thanks for your help ls1, I really appreciate it.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by NurseBen

Sorry for all the posts, sent from my iPad. The last picture; bottom pink wire, my instructions say "to run to a reliable keyed hot source, this is battery positive only when the key is on and when the engine is turning over in the crank position" this I believe was going to be to my old hei wire in the fuse block. Yes, this would hook to the old HEI wire.
The next wire is blue that goes to BCM which I'm not using
This is an interesting harness, not sure why they would include this wire, but like you say, just leave it alone.

The next is #26 purple, "starter trigger - send to battery positive to the wire only when you want the starter to turn over the engine. This is usually goes to your ignition switch in the start position or a push button start button. This is not the same as the large gauge wire that goes from the battery to the starter and alternator" This is the wire, I think, that is my original purple wire. I tie this harness wire to my original purple wire then to the third post on the solenoid. Yes, hook your original purple starter wire to this wire and then plug the other end into the starter and you should be good to go. It appears that this is just a wire to the starter and doesn't go through the starter relay though. If you have an ohm meter and can test the continuity of the wire from the 26 spot to the 28, that would tell you for sure.
The last wire on top goes to the TCC which I have read up on and feel good about. Pretty simple on a GenIV, just needs power when the brakes are applied, the opposite of a GenIII.
Thanks for your help ls1, I really appreciate it.

Answers in bold. Hope this helps.

[72MARIO]

Just wanted to add a little info to yor u torque converter wire. When I adjusted my brake light switch i had the brake lights operating properly but the plunger was not pushed in far enough to make contact for the torque converter. I had to adjust the switch so that more brake pedal pressure was required to activate the lights switch