My starter died or something. I went to start the truck this morning to come to work and it cranked over a few times and then just made a wizzing sound like it was spinning away but not engaged. I couldn't then get the truck to start. I have a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD. Can someone tell me how to take the starter out or what I might be able to do. My wife and I work in complete opposite directions and it was very difficult to get us both to work today so I have to try and get this fixed tonight or at least out tonight so I can get a replacement tomorrow and put it in. Please help.

Pete

 

I would lean more towards your batteries being dead. Check the battery before you take the starter out.

 

There are 3 10mm bolts that hold it in, and there are two cables to remove from the solenoid. I got the bottom two bolts and the solenoid cables from underneath the truck, then used a swivel and a 2 ft extension to get the top bolt out. Come to think of it, they may be 12mm. Not real hard to do, Napa got me a starter for $230 + core, but they had to get it from the warehouse, so it took a day. Call around and see who has what. Good luck.

 

I checked to see if it was the batteries and eveything else works just fine, stereo, lights. It tried to engage at the first try and then just spun .. then everytime after that it just spun. I'll try to get at the bolts. I'll have to get a 2 foot extension because the longest one I have is 8" I think. I hope that it's that easy to get out. I read on the internet it could be the contacts?? Are these in the starter? I don't know a whole lot about motors and stuff, I'm more into fabrication and suspensions.

 

Thats no way to tell if your batteries are good otr not. Batteries need to be load tested. You can take them to autozone or someplace that has a load tester.

Also, you will need a 10 mm 12 point socket to get the starter out. If the batteries are good, pull the starter and have a look at the contacts.

 

Yep, batteries need to be load tested and they must be done individually. That's the first thing I'd do as well as clean the terminals.

You might have a tooth missing from the flywheel/flexplate. Try rotating the engine a couple degrees and then try the starter again. 2nd thing I'd do.

Lastly, I'd pull the starter.

 

How would I go about rotating the engine? I'll have to get a friend of mine to tow me to an Autozone so that I can get the batteries tested.

 

If you've got a manual tranny the easiest thing to do would be to roll the truck in high gear and then let the clutch out (high gear will turn the engine over easier). If you've got an auto tranny then try to get a socket and really long bar/pipe on the bolt on the front of the crankshaft. It only needs to be turned a few degrees (assuming there is one missing tooth).

 

Okay thanks I'll give that a try. Hopefully that's what it is and I don't have to take things apart.

 

Getting the starter out is really not very hard. Yes 3-10mm bolts. The top one is a little hard to get at. If the starter spins but won't engage I bet you only need to replace the contacts inside of it, they are $30 or less. Check it out before you spend $230 or more, they are easy to replace. Be sure to unhook the batteries before working on it.
Ken

 

I'm hoping it an inexpensive fix. I was going to work on it last night but things at work came up and I didn't get out of here so I had to get another ride in today so I have to get it out and figure out what's wrong with it so I don't have to get a ride many more days.

 

I would be willing to bet it is your contacts. I got mine on E-bay, they have a kit and the contacts are alot bigger and it comes with some other parts. Other than that the starters are bulletproof. Very heavy duty. Get the contact kit.

 

If the contacts are bad the starter will do nothing.

The solinoid has to engage to make contact to spin the motor, IF you get the "click" and the starter doesn't spin, then I say the contacts.

If it spins I say you have a bad starter bendix.

I had the same problem last week.

I removed the starter, removed the solinoid cover, took out the plunger
and the side contacts, filed them a bit, put it back together.

Problem solved, $0.00 costs, good for another 100,000

 

Or more often they will stick causing the starter to run on till it overheats and melt some wiring on the way.

The whizzing sound without engagement that Pete describes sounds more like a bad battery or connection problem.

 

Think about this, as the solinoid plunger moves in, the starter drive
engages the flywheel, at the same time the plunger makes contact
from the battery side to the starter motor side. HOW would the motor
spin without the bendix being engaged??

The battery condition would make no difference since the solinoid
plunger does the connecting. It takes more amperage to turn the
starter then to engage the bendix.

I say it's a bad bendix or a badly damaged flywheel ring.

The starter hasn't died yet ....... it's just in a coma.


IMHO