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Hi everyone; I'm back again with another tech question. In my experience, starters are usually easy; drop them in and ready to go. This one calls for gear meshing which is becoming a pain as well as the wiring. I can only get the starter gear to come out a little bit; as seen in the below photo. My other problem is the wiring; I've tried a few different combinations as well as looking at the instructions for a long time but my battery wants to arc like crazy when I try to connect it. I've attached some photos of my wires and my old/new starter; maybe I'm just missing something simple.
i struggled and wound up rebuilding old one..
the cable needs to be bent or modified to reach around. I could NEVER get the gear out either.. to align. i am sure it is easy if out of car or maybe a remote to hit solenoid without starting..
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2019 C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods)
You have the wrong new starter.
The wires with the fusible links connect with the battery wire and the other wire (should be purple) connects to the small terminal closest to the block.
Thank you for the replies, I work at an auto parts store and assumed this was the correct one since I ordered it direct from the manufacturer. Not too familiar with the mini starters but I wanted one with more power than the reman Delco. If it is indeed the wrong starter, which Powermaster should I go with? I am not a fan of the whole gear meshing deal but if I have to get it done on a different starter then so be it. And I did have the battery disconnected, but when I tried to hook the battery back up it started arcing badly. I understand batteries produce small sparks but this was abnormal and I did not want to cause a fire or cause serious damage to my vehicle.
I'm also fairly certain that I had it hooked up exactly the same way as the diagram you posted. I just didn't use the R terminal. I hooked the big gauge black wire to the main battery post, the small red wire to the smaller nut (Ignition switch if I remember correctly) and that double wire I hooked in 2 different terminals so maybe that was my problem, I'm fairly certain that this starter is the correct one but maybe I was hooking the wires up wrong.
Yes, the big black cable was already bent when I took the original starter off. I don't believe anything else was touching those wires but I will put it back in tomorrow and check.
Yes, the big black cable was already bent when I took the original starter off. I don't believe anything else was touching those wires but I will put it back in tomorrow and check.
yes it’s bent for oem starter post..your new solenoid is similiar but it may touch the body when tightened down. Compare how it fits n original and new..it mayrequire tweaking.
i was not willing to flatten mine out, and still was too tight and close to parts. That positive end has a lot of exposed area.
Starter Gear, your not going to be able to just pull that gear out by hand, use a flat head screwdriver behind the gear and pry it out as far as you can.
Use the paper clip method to set gap, use shim if needed.
Also check that when extended the gear matches flywheel ware pattern of original starter.
There should be a round shim in the install hardware kit if needed.
Can you rotate Battery cable so instead of coming over the top can it rotate like 90* so it can come in from the side?
Battery & Fusible links to the BAT post,
Purple ignition wire to top lug marked "S"
Its very hot today so I had limited time to work on it, however I managed to take a video while I hooked the battery up. I'm almost certain that the battery cables are just hardly knicking something on the starter causing it to turn on and arc the battery. When I hook the battery up (attempt to) the starter gear engages with the flywheel with everything lining up perfect, and if I try to quickly tighten down the battery cable it actually starts to spin the flywheel and the sparks still continue to fly from the battery. I will probably end up having to bend those ring terminals or figure out a way to where they won't have any chance with connecting accidentally with something else. But it's definitely not a starter issue or the wrong starter.
Powermaster Starter Wiring 1981 Corvette
