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Merry Xmas Me!

Will L. said:
Use the other hand.
No Leroy, I mean he should use the other hand to start the truck.
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I went out again to start. The screech is there if I leave the ignition key in start just a moment after it lights. Clearly my hand was trained to the slow catch of the old starter. I'll get used to it.

Can't wait to see how this does in cold weather at Big Bear.
 
Big T said:
I went out again to start. The screech is there if I leave the ignition key in start just a moment after it lights. Clearly my hand was trained to the slow catch of the old starter. I'll get used to it.

Can't wait to see how this does in cold weather at Big Bear.
Click to expand...
A mighty nice feeling when things comes together and performs as good as or better than original.
It still blows Me away at how easy the K3500 cranks over and instantly starts, since I went through the cables and the starter too.
 
Yeah, all the OLD 6.2 pickup guys and hummer guys that had the direct drive starters enjoy it even more, as those starters spin even slower!
 
I've been dealing with marginal cranking speed for too long. Bought the truck with no rear starter bracket - found out that it was missing when I tore enough of the accident damaged parts off to try to get it to fire up for the first time - it fired and it kicked the starter back. Broke as a joke, I replaced the chowdered starter drive gear and made a bracket for it, then drove for the first few months with it but that starter was always slow sounding. Bought a Delco rebuilt after that which was better but still sluggish. Bought new batteries last week and it was better. It sounds about like the "Before" video Big T posted. Still not up to par in my opinion. Needed the truck for a job last week and couldn't coax it into action. Enough is enough, so now I'm going all the way. Ordered the Powermaster and did some voltage/current checks (still with the Delco starter). During cranking I measured 10v on DS battery, 8.5 on PS battery and 7.5v at the starter, 400A from the PS battery and 350A from the DS battery. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's way too much voltage drop - so the problem may have been my cables all along. The Powermaster arrives tomorrow (hopefully), and I had some 1/0 cable and terminals in my junk collection, so I'm hoping to beef everything up this weekend. I don't ever want to deal with starting issues again, so it's worth it to me to flush the entire system out with the best components I can afford. Hopefully in-spec cranking speed will buy me some time on the tired IP that I've got. Thanks to all who chimed in with advice, and to Big T for sharing your experience! I love a good set of "before" and "after" videos. Hope your foot is healing well!
 
Yes that is too much voltage drop. Pull those cables. Charge the batteries independently while its apart and write down results. This includes adding distilled water if needed. Then go back and track them, disconnecting cables once a month for 3 months.

Believe it or not, some people rotate batteries when they see one dying quicker. Not a horrible idea if a feller has time to test once a month and rotate batteries every 6 months or so.

Only draw back to doing new cables at same time as new starter is you don’t get to enjoy $ spent separately- haha. No, really just if there is a problem, you don’t know cables vs starter.

I ALWAYS Bench test a new or reman starter before installing. Just jumper cables to + and - post and body. Then a remote switch, but a small piece of wire just bent in “U” and touching the 2 posts will do.
 
Will, the Delco rebuilt starter did run free just fine on the bench. If the cables are doing their job I don't expect to see much of a drop across them. If I find a cell low on electrolyte I'm bringing them back to the store because I bought them a week and a half ago. I understand what you're saying - since they are different animals, I should do the cables first. That will make it easier to get it to a warm place to install the starter. I'll see if I can put up a few videos. For now, it's pretty cold here so I'm going to see if I can get some pipe run over to my wood boiler.
 
Well Big T, I've followed in your footsteps, although my boots aren't nearly as fancy. Upgrade complete.

I tried to document the whole process but somewhere along the way my GoPro started to malfunction, and despite the fact that it appeared to be functioning normally, most of the video files from about halfway through the job on were lost. I can make a new video of the end result (especially once we get some cold weather again) but the one I recorded of the original starter with the beefier battery cables is gone and I'm not putting the old starter back to make another one!!! It lives in my memory though, and I'd say that with 1/0 cables I got a noticeable improvement - perhaps around 20-30% better than the original ones. I'll dissect them later to see what the ends look like. There was some swelling in the insulation near the terminal ends so I'm curious what I'll find. If I only replaced the cables, however, I would probably still be left wanting in the cold weather.

Video (or at least what I could retrieve) to come.

Then I put in the PowerMaster. None of the videos of PowerMaster starters on 6.5's seem to do it justice. The problem is that since it whips over so fast, it's running before you can really listen to the starter. You have to hear it in person. Tonight I'll disconnect the fuel solenoid and then make another video. Maybe I'll even bring out the Audio Technica mic. Bigger cables and a Powermaster should be called the "Wind My Crank" mod - hearing this truck start now is both startling and arousing all at the same time. This could become habit forming.

Thank you to everyone on this thread for their contribution and encouragement. Especially Big T, as your before and after videos were the most convincing of the bunch. Mainly this is because in your before video, it sounds almost exactly like my truck did before this upgrade.
 
reddtekk said:
Well Big T, I've followed in your footsteps, although my boots aren't nearly as fancy. Upgrade complete.

I tried to document the whole process but somewhere along the way my GoPro started to malfunction, and despite the fact that it appeared to be functioning normally, most of the video files from about halfway through the job on were lost. I can make a new video of the end result (especially once we get some cold weather again) but the one I recorded of the original starter with the beefier battery cables is gone and I'm not putting the old starter back to make another one!!! It lives in my memory though, and I'd say that with 1/0 cables I got a noticeable improvement - perhaps around 20-30% better than the original ones. I'll dissect them later to see what the ends look like. There was some swelling in the insulation near the terminal ends so I'm curious what I'll find. If I only replaced the cables, however, I would probably still be left wanting in the cold weather.

Video (or at least what I could retrieve) to come.

Then I put in the PowerMaster. None of the videos of PowerMaster starters on 6.5's seem to do it justice. The problem is that since it whips over so fast, it's running before you can really listen to the starter. You have to hear it in person. Tonight I'll disconnect the fuel solenoid and then make another video. Maybe I'll even bring out the Audio Technica mic. Bigger cables and a Powermaster should be called the "Wind My Crank" mod - hearing this truck start now is both startling and arousing all at the same time. This could become habit forming.

Thank you to everyone on this thread for their contribution and encouragement. Especially Big T, as your before and after videos were the most convincing of the bunch. Mainly this is because in your before video, it sounds almost exactly like my truck did before this upgrade.
Click to expand...

Reddtek, glad my videos were of inspirational help. The PowerMaster truly does make a huge difference with the engine lighting immediately. Can't wait to try it in cold weather up in the mountains. This fix sorta parallels the fix on my foot: why did I wait 18 years to finally fix it?
 
Big T said:
Reddtek, glad my videos were of inspirational help. The PowerMaster truly does make a huge difference with the engine lighting immediately. Can't wait to try it in cold weather up in the mountains. This fix sorta parallels the fix on my foot: why did I wait 18 years to finally fix it?
Click to expand...
Don't let the wifey hear that or the next thing you know, here comes the unabridged HoneyDo List!
 
Will L. said:
Ive seen your handy work. Wish i could hire you to fix my house!
Click to expand...

The good news is that I can do stuff. The bad news is that everyone wants me to do stuff and that is on top of my day job. My older sister is living in the house we grew up in under a life trust. She was left a fund to fix up the house after our mother passed from cancer last year. My sister is also a double breast cancer survivor. I have committed to help her with the repairs and remodels at the home. It won't happen overnight, but it will. I also have major projects on our Fullerton residence, but those are big and I'm contracting them out. I'm just spread thin and have been set back a bit by the foot repair. Winter time seems to be truck work time.
 
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