Would not start. Charged the battery which reads green and still wouldn't start. Hit the solonoid with a hammer a few times and it cranked right up. Replaced the starter solonoid with a refurb'd one and it won't crank or do anything at all. Lights and stuff are all very dim. Hooked it up to another car and jumped it, still won't start. Did I possibly get a bad starter solonoid from the store? Or do I have other problems?

 

yea that would be my guess.....i did the same thing with my starter....my dad hits it with a hammer while i crank the ignition..then bam it works....so i replaced the starter and all works well...then within 6 months it went bad again and had to repeat the process....so if the hit it till it works method worked once then try again and see if it starts up.....if it does you should just get another starter

 

I suggest you buy a new starter.

 

I will second that suggestion and add this to it. Buy a lifetime warrented starter.

 

yea it would be nice if u could find such a thing....cuz im pretty sure the most ur gonna get is a 1 or 2 year warranty....sooo yea just get a new one...after u take a mallet to this one haha

 

at the parts store in town, they offer a lifetime warranty. It's carquest, but hey if they keep on replacin, I keep usin. Actually, so far, nothing I have bought from there has been bad. Never had to use the warranty. But, it's always good to have one when the part does go bad. I know....I sound like the guy that says, "In my town, they give me everything for free" but really, they give me a lifetime warranty on almost everything. Also, this is a small town I live in. My dad went to highschool with the guy who runs the part store, so maybe I get lifetime warranty on everything because of that. It's good to have sources.[8D]

 

yea really....i wish i had a place like that by me....lifetime warrenty....i thought the only company that did that with no questions asked was craftsmen

 

Half the time, the hit it and it works thing is the solenoid. The other half, it is the brushes in the motor sticking. If you hear a click, that is the solenoid kicking the bendix out, engaging the starter gear on the flywheel.

I know that on the old chevy starters, I have 'rebuilt' my own by taking the starter and solenoid apart and cleaning everything up. I'd clean the brushes on the starter motor as well as the land on the rotor where they would contact and lube the slides for the brushes with dielectric silicone grease. I did this on pretty much all of my dad's farm trucks at one point or another and they lasted for a LONG time before needing it done again. I don't know how the newer starters are constructed, but you can bet that if I have starter trouble on my Bravada, I'll take it apart before I go running to the parts store.