This video shows how test a starter outside of the vehicle. Watch as the solenoid, switch contacts and motor windings are checked using a good battery and some cables.
My mentor at college said, it’s berry rare that they will need replacing, as they should last the engines lifetime. Cheers for the video this helped :)
You got bad mentoring! (or, misguided mentoring) While the starter is an extremely simple item(motor), there are no guarantees on how long they can last. Some will go 80,000starts....and that's a ridiculously high number, but it can happen. OTOH, you can get one that will last 30k miles.....depending on how much you drive, that can be one year or the lifetime of the car again! I've had them last 20 years on some vehicles and 4 years on others. Nothing is perfect and nothing last forever.
@@xr500thow did you fail to realize that he said it's very rare? He didn't say it was impossible or it never happens. It's not bad mentoring because it is rare and even though you've seen it happen doesn't mean it happens a lot.
Great video! Question: when I do the first test not only does the solenoid pop the starting gear up, the gear turns too. What does this mean? A short in the solenoid? Or in the starter?
So the big B+ connection is not wired and the starter turns. This is highly unusual. I would think the solenoid fuse would blow right away under this kind of amp load. A short in the solenoid, between the S and B+ terminals, is the only thing that makes sense.
