Best starter heat shield

[Jeepwm69]

Dad's old 83 sat up for awhile, and when I got it running again, I had to put a new starter on it.

Starter works great when the truck is cold, but after driving it, when I turn the key I usually get clicking (assuming the solenoid) and then it will finally turn over slowly and start.

Now from what I've found sounds like heat is affecting the solenoid.

Do the solenoid heat shields work ($10 Dorman) or do I need to get something else?

Anything else it could be? Starter tests good, so think it's just heat sink.

[78maliburat]

Originally Posted by Jeepwm69

Dad's old 83 sat up for awhile, and when I got it running again, I had to put a new starter on it.

Starter works great when the truck is cold, but after driving it, when I turn the key I usually get clicking (assuming the solenoid) and then it will finally turn over slowly and start.

Now from what I've found sounds like heat is affecting the solenoid.

Do the solenoid heat shields work ($10 Dorman) or do I need to get something else?

Anything else it could be? Starter tests good, so think it's just heat sink.

FORD EXT SOLENOID

[Jeepwm69]

Guessing that means don't use the GM solenoid and put a Ford style on instead? My CJ's use a Ford solenoid up on the inner fender.......

[tucsonjwt]

You should not have starter heat soak unless you have a big block. With a small block you should just need a good starter/solenoid.

I have a 454 and have a heat soak problem. I have dual start batteries, remote Ford solenoid, GM high torque mini starter. I still have a drag on the starter when the engine is at operating temperature but it always starts. I have never had heat soak on a small block.

I tried a metal heat shield with the stock 454 starter on my 73 and that did not help. Dual start batteries did help some, but still a drag on the starter when hot.

Be advised that some posting here vehemently state that starter heat soak does not exist - you just have a bad starter, solenoid, wiring, battery, etc. - so be prepared to hear opposing views.

[Jeepwm69]

I've wondered if I shouldn't replace my + cable.

Battery is good. Starter TESTS good, but then again, not like they're testing it while it's hot.

That said, I took the starter back when it started dragging, and they replaced it, and the new one does the same thing, so that leads me to believe it's the cable or solenoid/ something other than the starter.

Battery is good.

I've also seen that on some later models there are fusible links that sometimes go bad and cause hot starting issues. Any of those on an 83?

Trying to narrow down here.

Thank you for the replies thus far.

[rich weyand]

Check the cable sometime when it is giving you trouble. Hook the volt meter from the battery positive to the starter positive stud. That is, measure the voltage between the two ends of the cable. Then try to crank it. If the voltage goes up over about half a volt, the cable is bad. They rot out inside, and it can be temperature dependent.

[jetmech85]

I had that dreaded big block starter heat soak problem on my '90 SS. Started fine when cold and sometimes when warm. Bought a new high amp battery and a gear reduction starter. Haven't installed the starter yet, new battery has been starting it for a year now.

[86c20]

one thing i know that helped alot on a dump truck k30 with headers and the pto right on the trans was running bigger cables i think 2 or 4 gague and running a neg right from batt to starter. amp have to get back to batt give it the ez way.

[GMC Guy]

had the same issue with mine. tried the starter shield, but that was a waste of money.
Installed a new starter from a mid-late 90's 5.7, bolted right up and now it starts like a new truck, always.

[esbstuff]

Originally Posted by rich weyand

Check the cable sometime when it is giving you trouble. Hook the volt meter from the battery positive to the starter positive stud. That is, measure the voltage between the two ends of the cable. Then try to crank it. If the voltage goes up over about half a volt, the cable is bad. They rot out inside, and it can be temperature dependent.

This guy is 100% correct!

[Tx Firefighter]

The days of big heavy bulky starters are past.

Any time you need a starter, look the parts guy in the face and tell him "98 model Tahoe with a 350".

You'll get one of these little fellas. They are tiny and crank like a mule. Even problematic applications suddenly become easy starters. I paid 80 bucks total for this delivered from Rockauto.





That's not some piece of sh!t either, it's a brand new Remy starter. GM knew what they were doing when they started equipping trucks with these mini starters from the factory.

[homemade87]

If I am not mistaken I think the smaller starter is a gear reduction like the newer ls starter. It gets the strength from the gear reduction so it can have a smaller motor. The larger starter depends on the brute force of the motor.(no gear reduction)

[wilkin250r]

Just to throw out a slightly opposing viewpoint. I had a starter heat problem on an old 72, a cheap foil/kevlar heat shield wrap fixed the problem.

[cadillac_al]

Originally Posted by homemade87

If I am not mistaken I think the smaller starter is a gear reduction like the newer ls starter. It gets the strength from the gear reduction so it can have a smaller motor. The larger starter depends on the brute force of the motor.(no gear reduction)

That's what I was wondering. According to my old school thinking, there is no way that puny starter can crank like a big one. It must be gear reduction. The small size will definitly give it more header clearance. Thanks for the hot tip tx firefigher, my starter is on it's last legs so I am going to try one of those mini starters.

[jetmech85]

I haven't opened one up but it must be a planetary gear reduction. I have one on my Suburban and it is great and another waiting to go on my SS. Plenty of room around exhaust and easy to install and remove. Takes less amperage too. I will never buy another big bulky starter.

[KQQL IT]

Starts my 406 hot cold anytime the same way everytime. And will start with a marginal battery fairly easy.

[nheller76]

I've had the same problem with my truck! First check your battery + & - cables, then make sure the area where The starter meets the block is clean. Then follow the little line from your starter to your fuse box and check to see if that is Burt broken or any other problem with it. I did that and BAM figured my problem out.

[Jeepwm69]

I had a bad + cable on one of the Jeeps that gave me fits. Looked fine but was bad inside the sheathing.

The + battery cable on this GMC is a long sucker, and I guess the factory routed them to make it a PITA to follow the path.

[gmachinz]

Use the 98 Tahoe starter with 2ga battery cables (including the negative side) and problem solved.

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

Use the 98 Tahoe starter with 2ga battery cables (including the negative side) and problem solved.

Amazing how many people upgrade the positive side and neglect the grounds (yes multiple) on these things. I've just started swapping out some of the electrical on my Green Jeans project and made a HUGE difference already.

Feedback on the Tahoe starter is GREAT too. Starts my 11:1 compression 350 with timing advanced to the absolute limit with ease, even at full temperature on 100 degree days this summer. 1.75" headers and no heat shield either.

[Jeepwm69]

Wish I'd known that before I bought the starter that's on there now, which has a lifetime warranty......

[gmachinz]

Well, I tend to go overkill on electrical stuff anyway.....but there's reasoning behind my madness-I'll spend a lot of time just eliminating voltage drop to as little as possible-it can be tedious but armed with a multi-meter I aint skeered!

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

Well, I tend to go overkill on electrical stuff anyway.....but there's reasoning behind my madness-I'll spend a lot of time just eliminating voltage drop to as little as possible-it can be tedious but armed with a multi-meter I aint skeered!

I'm an ex-grounding auditor for Nortel Networks and used to test entire telephone company central offices for power and grounding differences and spend months isolating this, binding that, burying these, welding those... Added to being a stereo geek all of my life. I know where you're coming from!!!

[Jeepwm69]

Well, the starter finally gave up the ghost yesterday. Drove it to town, and it wouldn't start. Had a guy tap on it while I was turning the key and it fired off.

Was going to drive it to Autozone this morning and drop the starter in the parking lot, but wouldn't budge, so I took it off in the driveway and brought a different vehicle to work.

Guess I'll swap it out one more time and see if I can get one that lasts, and if it craps out again I'll go the 98 Tahoe starter route and see if that does any better.

I've heard horror stories about reman starters and alternators from Autozone, but I've got two Jeep CJ's and have put Autozone reman starters and alternators on both of them and haven't had any issues out of them in 10+ years. Maybe I just got lucky with the Jeeps.

[tucsonjwt]

I just had a local auto electrical shop install a Hitachi high torque mini starter and heat shield as was suggested elsewhere on this forum. I already had the Ford remote solenoid and dual start batteries. This replaced the GM high torque mini starter. The shop verified that the starting, charging, and electrical systems were in good working order.

I still have a slight drag on the starter when hot, but only about 1/3 as bad as with the GM mini starter and shield. Some of the hard start may be due to vapor lock. So, this covers all known cures for BB heat soak. I guess that this is the best I will ever get. I would still say that on a small block none if this should be necessary, unless headers are involved.

I bought this heat shield on Amazon but I think they are all about the same:

Amazon.com: Unversal Starter Heat Shield Barrier...