I've got a 2001 blazer 4.3 and it's having some issues. The starter died and we replaced it with a brand new one from Autozone. We put a brand new battery in it as well. It still spins over very slowly and won't start. It sounds like it's losing power to the starter and doesn't have enough juice to spin fast enough to start. We checked voltage of the battery and it was good. We checked voltage while the car was trying to start and it dropped down to between 9-10. We did the same test on another blazer we have and while trying to start voltage only dropped to 11.5. So it seems we're losing power to the starter somehow. We also ran a wire from the positive on the battery to the 12v source on the starter to see if there was something draining power from somewhere else but it still spun very slow. The car has oil and the cylinder walls are oiled up and everything as well.

We don't really know where to go from here but we need this car running very soon. Is there anything you guys can tell me as to what to check next? Thanks for the help.

Zach

 

Test the voltage at the main starter terminal while cranking. It could be a connection or fusible link issue.

 

Have Autozone check your battery take it out bring it to them for free test I work there and from what you said I do not think it is starter. here in Florida a battery only lasts about 2 years from the heat here

 

I'll throw my two cents in and say check the ground for the battery being as you stated you have a new battery in there.

 

I have already checked all the grounds and cleaned them up real nicely. The battery is brand new and cranked up the other blazer we have with no issues or delay at all so it's not the battery.

If I test the voltage at the main starter terminal what should it read? Will that test be any different than testing the voltage at the battery while cranking? When I tested the cranking voltage at the battery it was like 9-10 but in our other blazer it was 11.5. The fact that it's much lower in the 2001 makes me very curious as to why it would be so much lower.

 

take the starter back to autozone and have them check it,even though you just bought it,it could be a bad one

 

That's odd. I would have the starter checked. If it's good, It sounds almost like a ground even though you did mention they are all clean. Maybe miswired? That's all I can think of.

 

If the battery, starter and all connections check out good I'd start looking at the wires themselves. Had a bad hot wire to the starter many years ago that drove me nuts until a buddy recommended replacing it. I thought he was nuts but followed his advice.

Long story short, corrected the problem.

 

I'm actually on the third new starter from AZ. The first one I broke a terminal off. They replaced that one and then I actually started to wonder if that was the problem. So I had AZ check that and it passed. But the guy gave me another starter to try and even tested that one first and it was also good. So the starter itself is good...the battery is good.

I took all the grounds off...cleaned them up nice and shiny, cleaned the frame and block where they bolt to, cleaned the bolts themselves...so I'm pretty sure that's not it. Maybe the integrity of the wires have been compromised somehow. I just don't want to keep putting money into things that I'm not sure will fix it...but I guess I don't have much option at the moment.

If the big wire to the starter has a dirty connector could that be robbing voltage...like if it was oily? I recall it being a little dirty but I can't remember how much. And the car has an oil leak so oil could have gotten on it. I planned on taking the starter back out tomorrow and cleaning up the connectors. Could the wire from the battery to the starter really have crapped out from one day to the next? The car was starting just fine before and then one day it just started spinning super slow. Keep the ideas coming guys this one has stumped me.

 

A dirty connection will decrease the amperage to the starter, but not by much unless it is heavily corroded. Greasy isn't really a concern.

You need to test the voltage at the starter main (large) terminal while cranking and compare that to the voltage at the battery, also while cranking. If they are quite different, then you have a cable problem. The next thing you could do is test the main positive cable resistance with one end unhooked. It shouldn't read all that high. With the end unhooked, try pulling on the positive cable. It shouldn't stretch at all. If it does, the fusible link is bad and the cable needs to be replaced.