Starter goes "click" a few times, then works great

[davepl]

Long story short, I have a new LS3 with a new GM starter and solenoid. Battery seems fine.

Often when I go to start it, I get "Click". Nothing else.

Try again, "Click!"

Try again, "Click!"

Try again, "Crank-Start-Vroom!"

It -sounds- like a low battery situation, other than being a single click, but things seem charged up fine. When it finally does crank, it cranks fast.

I have ample grounds, I know that, as I even added extra braided straps. Positive cable to the battery isn't tight, but it's not doing the "arc at the cable and then stop working" thing.

Do LS solenoids act like this on the way out? Right now I'm just doing the "try it again" approach and it's always started, but one of these stays I assume it's not going to.

Diagnosis?

[homemade87]

If I was to guess the contacts on the solenoid are corroded or getting wore . Same thing happens to marine stuff when it gets old. Most likely the environment when it sets for a while .Click it several times and it will work . If it were me I would change the solenoid before it decides to not work . Never happens at an opportune time .

[davepl]

Do you mean on the terminals going to the starter or do you mean internals of the solenoid?

[BR3W CITY]

Solenoids use a magnetic coil and a plunger/contact to make/break the circuit and get power to the starter. If the coil doesn't get enough power to move the plunger, the contact doesn't get made (i.e. the low-battery click). Same happens for bad grounds etc.

As the solenoids age, the contacts themselves, or the plunger, can wear out or build up with crap (carbon, I assume). Its possible that you have plenty of power to energize the coils, but may not be making the actual connection.

You can try wacking it with a mallet and seeing if you can clear junk out and improving it...but more than likely, its just worn out.

[ls1nova71]

As homemade said, replace it before it leaves you stranded. What you describe is a classic symptom that the starter is on its way out. I replace starters all the time at work for this very reason, actually replaced two of them just last night.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by davepl

Positive cable to the battery isn't tight, but it's not doing the "arc at the cable and then stop working" thing.

I missed this when I first read your post, I would fix this first.

[homemade87]

Originally Posted by davepl

Do you mean on the terminals going to the starter or do you mean internals of the solenoid?

Dave, I should have been clear on the contacts . I was referring to the contacts inside the solenoid . The click you are hearing is the solenoid coil being activated and slamming the contacts closed which in turn allows the power to get to the starter . Either the contacts are worn or the starter is not accepting the power for some reason . In the end you have a problem that will not get better . Time to replace .

[davepl]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

As homemade said, replace it before it leaves you stranded. What you describe is a classic symptom that the starter is on its way out. I replace starters all the time at work for this very reason, actually replaced two of them just last night.

Thanks folks, will do. Weird for a brand new starter!

[homemade87]

Originally Posted by davepl

Thanks folks, will do. Weird for a brand new starter!

It being a brand new starter you could just replace the solenoid . This being the case this would most likely fix it . The contacts in the solenoid are most likely corroded or dirty from sitting around . This happens in the marine world as I mentioned a lot . It could get better or not . Things are not worn out yet just dirty .

[franken]

Or if new greasy contacts and/or disk in the solenoid. When we had nads, we just jumped the solenoid to check.
Seems like a resistive connection. Picture that the solenoid is banging a connection to switch the motor on when you turn the key to start. Click may mean a bad high current connection. Another click may make the connection less bad till after a few tries it works.

The point is, make a mental picture of the electrical paths, which are just loops from and to the battery/alt, and figuring out what went wrong isn't hard. Saying I' can't and posting is easy. A mentality of I can't is..? Try looking at things for a bit and thinking about how the stuff works.

Most responses to your question will be unhelpful and waste your time.

[davepl]

Originally Posted by franken

The point is, make a mental picture of the electrical paths, which are just loops from and to the battery/alt, and figuring out what went wrong isn't hard. Saying I' can't and posting is easy. A mentality of I can't is..? Try looking at things for a bit and thinking about how the stuff works.

Most responses to your question will be unhelpful and waste your time.

Really not sure what you're implying here, but it didn't advance things.

Why not form that mental picture and tell us what you see when the starter goes click? Which little mental loop is jammed and interrupted?

Seems to me like the solenoid is firing, likely throwing the armature out and everything, but it's not starting it's rotation. That's what I don't know the why for.

[solidaxel]

O K so which starter does everyone like to use, they are priced all over the place, and all seem to have the same bolt pattern for L S engines?

[davepl]

Even though I'm currently having trouble with one, I'm a big fan of GM starters. I figure they make millions of them, they're used every day, and they have to warranty them for years on all kinds of vehicles, so they're likely quality pieces.

Get the one for the 6.2L (I think it's anything 6L and larger) as they're more powerful.