chevy "hot starter" fix?

I haven't used this one but I hear good things and the Velcro makes installation and removal a snap. Looks cool too.

My 442 ate starters and solenoids like popcorn shrimp. I put the batt in the trunk and installed a ford style solenoid. Perfect now for 3 years of hard duty use. Try installing a heat shield before you do anything drastic.

 

great info on this thread, glad I did a search.. the 60 SD is having the same issue....

 

Well, this is an old thread, and the last post was 7 months ago, but I found it so interesting I had to add my two cents.

I have heard that as the bearing (bushing) wears, the armature gets closer to the field, and when hot it actually touches the field and doesn't move. Upon cooling and contracting, they are separated again and the starter will work. Some rebuilders don't even look at the bushings, so cheap rebuilds will have problems early on if not immediately.

Also, as a very young man in the 1970s, my GM starter stopped working, no click, nothing. I thought it was just the solenoid, so I replaced it, and still no start. Apparently when the starter dies, it dies, no bones about it. I would think I would still get a click from the solenoid, but nothing. A new starter fixed the problem.

 

has anybody tried (I'm going to , to avoid hot wires down there) disconnecting the starter motor from the solenoid , and use the motor connection at the solenoid to energize a ford type solenoid that is wired directly from the battery to the starter motor wire that was just disconnected , makes the gm solenoid act as a relay and keeps the starter delay in play

 

Well the first step of working on the starter or the wires is to disconnect the battery.. No battery connection = no sparks.
On the last two I did I took a copper cable terminal end with the same diameter hole as the stud on the starter and flattened it. Then I marked where the S pole would be from the battery post on the solenoid and drilled a hole for it. Then a bit of t******* to make it neat and tidy when it was on the solenoid. Put it on the solenoid, tighten up the S post nut and then put the cable on it and run the wire that went to the S post to the correct post on the Ford solenoid. I used new correct length cables but you could cut the cable and put a couple of terminals on it to connect to the Ford solenoid.
Side note: if you are buying new cables spend a few more bucks and go to the larger gauge cable. The electrons just flow though the larger cable easier than they do with the (this skinny one works for 12 V) ones.

As far as replacing the bushings as Garageman 402 posted 3 years ago you can buy bushings and brushes for a Delco starter for about 10 bucks at Napa and it isn't rocket science to change them. It's a bit of a challenge to get the old bushings out but digging that old cheap flat tip screw driver out of the junk box, and grinding a rounded on one side sharp tip on it makes a nice chisel to slip down between the bushing and the housing to get the bushing loosened up to where it will come out easily.

 

I second this mini starter idea. I've done the ford solenoid, wrap, blankets, etc.--but i never pee'd on one, although i thought it was a good idea. Went to a mini starter on 2 separate rods, no problemo.

 

I've endured the "hot start" issue for years and now it's solved! I purchased and installed a Ron Francis Hot Start kit, going by the instructions and taking no shortcuts. It works! One of the keys is to run a ground wire from the battery in the trunk to the front of the car. I was using the frame as the ground, but when I ran a new negative battery cable (#2 welding cable) all of my start issues went away! Kudos to Ron Francis!