So, a week later and the new replacement starter is dead already. Started slower every time, like the motor was siezing itself.

Clearly bad starter, or something else I should be looking in to? I finally got another job, so after a paycheck or two every single battery cable/main ground is being replaced just to make sure I hit all bases.

 

where are you getting them from? ask for a refund and take your business to somewhere with decent quality parts

 

from both of the pepboys near me (although im not a fan of the Eatontown one) . I bet the problem is started long ago, when I bought the reman starter instead of a brand spanking new one

 

I have had trouble in the past with buying rebuilt starters and water pumps. Now I stay with new. For me it is especially important because I am not the smallest person in the world and getting older so I don't want to get under a car twice if I don't have to. And I have to do all my repairs outside, and in this time of year I would rather not get any not needed practice.

 

Just a general comment on buying parts. My Saturn is the 2nd newest car I own and it is a 94. And the company is out of business and the dealers are closed. My Chrysler is a 2007. That makes it 6 years old.
I restore cars and am currently working on a 1975 car made by a company that has been out of business since 1988. And it is one of 5 that I own. The engine in it because I am not only restoring the body but also turning it into a street rod so the engine was purchased two years ago from a Boat. And it as close as I can tell was made initially in or around 1993 or so but I know for fact it was a re-manufactured short block and sold as a marine replacement engine when it was purchased. I ask then, how do you know something was new or rebuilt when you buy it from an auto parts store.
The only started I ever knew for sure was a new starter was one purchased a number of years ago for a Dodge Aries, a car that was first built in 1981 and I purchased for business and put so many miles on it so fast it started needing parts for replacement before the parts industry was able to get the pipe line filled.
You are asking if it is the starter or something else.
The problem with that question as some one reading it and not there to actually make a decision as to what might be wrong is that there are diagnostics not being indicated as to what might be wrong.
Yes you are describing a problem that MIGHT be attributed to a defective starter. And yes on occasion I have purchased parts that were some how defective. But in my life I have purchased both a lot of cars and one whale of a lot of parts both from dealers, auto-parts houses both national and franchised and independent and used from junk yards. I even have been enough of a pack rat to have extra starters lying around that I have placed into service.
There are not so mnay re-manufacturing places that are big enough to be able to supply things like starters to something like a chain of auto-parts places so the odds are that most of the auto-parts places actually all have the same thing for sale. Just the box they are in might be different or? It might not.
Rock auto does a large on line sales and I have purchased enough parts from them to realize they do not seem to have a central store, they might, I don't know but some parts have been bought in matched pairs and each one was dropped shipped from a different location while billing went to a 3rd.
And they all worked.
How do you either tell or know a starter was re-manufactured that you are blaming this on or is new if you bought it from Pep-Boys? Or where your local store actually got it.
I ordered from a Chevy Dealer, parts for my Saturn and they came packaged in a sandwich bag.
I am sure that was a genuine GM part. Wouldn't you be? And pigs fly too.
And that is not an isolated case.
If the starter is failing or seemingly so, what was the voltage reading on your battery at the time it was failing?
Don't know? I don't blame you. If you have a volt meter? And know how to use it? (don't feel bad, a lot of people don't) and it is hard to make a measurement of that type when you are by yourself. If for no other reason than your arms don't reach that far which is why I have alligator clip leads so I can make measurements of that type. You might have some idea what is going on and a reason to spend the money buying cables for the battery. But by in large it has been my experience that cables that need replacement and are causing problems also have a physical defect that can be seen. Corrosion damage or damage caused by heat of trying to pass enough current to start the car.
No I don't know what is wrong with the car but my experience says that two starters in the row having exactly the same problem says the problem is not the starters. Something else is going on.
I could be wrong but I am not able to guess correctly based on the information given. And my budget probably like yours is too damned little to waste money throwing parts at something I don't understand in order to solve it.
I have no idea how to tell you to buy a new starter for a car that might not have been made in a long enough time to insure new parts are available. I have no clue how to tell a parts counter guy how to give me a new starter unless the store can insure that.
And then again, some auto parts stores have parts counter people who are barely able to read much less know the name of what you are handed but are very good at telling you what you want to hear.
"Oh yeah, this is new! What do you expect to hear, now go away I have another customer."
If you really believe the starter is bad and it is the 2nd one obtained from that dealer either try to get it replaced because you can not afford to buy another one or go to some one else to get it.
That is what I would do.
And before I spent a ton of money replacing battery cables I would be removing and inspecting the ones that are on the car looking for damage.
I also would be looking for the cable that goes from the engine to the car body and checking that the connections are both clean, undamaged and tight. No I don't know where it is. I do know all cars have one so it is there some where.
I have done my share and then some of working on a car this time of year outside in the weather and frustrated because I could not or would not spend the money required to have some one else not fix it when I am quite capable of not fixing it my self a whole bunch cheaper and better.
I could be way off base and for that I apologize but the statement of
"Clearly bad starter, or something else I should be looking in to?"
Means you are guessing and I am not sure for this problem that is the best way to go about it.
To me nothing is clearly about this.
You need voltage readings while the failure is taking place and some indication of physical damage to the cables to justify blanket replacement.
And are all connections tight?

 

I've been in the car business for 40 years. I do not, and will not recommend that anyone goes to AdvancedPepO'ReillyZone for any hard parts including starters, alternators, SENSORS. They are ok to buy a can of paint, sandpaper, or other trinkets from. Evan spark plugs are ok to buy from them............providing you know the part number of the ones you want.





PS: Sorry derf I hit edit not quote so it looks like I was messing with your post. I keep forgetting I'm a MOD.