94 hard start this A.M.

[MaddBaggins]

Put in the key this morning and instead of the usual ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-vroooom I got a weird hesitant ra---ra-ra----rara-pop-vroooom. Pop sounded like it came from starter area. Kinda hard to give you the sounds over the net.
After it started, rpms were normal, oil pressure in the usual range, temp came up normal then for just a second the oil light came on, but didn't come on again the rest of the way to work.
So of course, paranoia is high now, I turn off the stereo and listen to every sqeak and creak she makes all the way to work. At 2 stop lights I heard a sound of something sqeaking, coming form the starter area. Starter gear? Didn't do it again when I got to work.
Checked oil, it is a qt low, thats about my norm for 2k since last change. Replaced starter contacts and plunger less than a year ago.

Thoughts. I've got about 9 hours before I need to start her again.

 

[CJF]

I'm focusing on the first part of your "impersonation" , ignoring the "pop":

"ra---ra-ra" rather than "ra-ra-ra" sounds like low voltage to me; you know, like when you realize you left the lights on and you're hoping maybe there's just enough juice to crank it. So, maybe your battery's on its way out?

Good luck,

Curtis

 

[MaddBaggins]

The sound wasn't like what I've heard with a low bat, but you never know.
I just started it again and all was normal. I have a 9mile cross-town drive to work so I don't think if the bat was low that it had time to charge.
I talked to my mechanic and he said without actually hearing it, that his thought is the starter motor itself, brushes maybe wearing down and starting to
have "dead" spots were it catches.
Possibly time for a new starter

 

[firetruck41]

If you still have the original starter, it is time to replace the starter contacts/plunger anyway, buy the parts from cdan, about $37 (pretty cheap compared to a starter), and replace them, it is really easy and doesn't take much time. I just did this last week when my intermittent starter finally got stuck in the "on" position, I managed to disconnect the batt before I burned the truck up. There is a "how-to" writeup in the 80 series faq.

 

[dfmorse]

If the Batt is over 4 years old, get a new one. Do the new starter rebuild as "Ben" mentioned. How many miles on the Great 94?

...

 

[medtro]

"Replaced starter contacts and plunger less than a year ago." in the 1st post.

 

[firetruck41]

"Replaced starter contacts and plunger less than a year ago." in the 1st post.

 

[Rainy Day FZJ]

I had a red top battery that was a little low on charge that would consistantly produce the same. Put it on the trickle charger over night and the deamon vanished. My vote is for a dying or low battery.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Battery is less than 2 years old and voltage (with motor off) is 12.7 with a meter across the posts. All connections that I checked yesterday are tight. I still have a few more connections and grounds I want to check.
The rig has been starting up normally now. This was a one time thing so far. This leads me toward a loose connection or starter motor going out. I'll check it some more this weekend, then call Dan next week if necessary.