OVERHEATING STARTER

I have installed those on 12 cylinder engines. spins the hell out of the motor with a lot less battery that the OE starter. That being said old 12 cylinder starters were about as efficient as a Victorian era stem engine and only a little lighter. The 308 and 328 already has a pretty good starter. One of the parts on these cars I don't think I have ever had to fix.

 

I don't have experience with that specific starter but I have had a similar thing happen with another car. In my case, it turned out to be a bad starter solenoid. As it got hot, something inside must have expanded to the point where it didn't make contact anymore

 

Had similar symptoms, was caused by an old battery. Changed the battery, all good since.
Hot starter needs a little more current to engage, this makes the difference.

 

If it strands you once it will strand you again. I would really want to find a resolution.

 

Steve,

Poor/corroded connection at solenoid to starter.
Had the same symptoms. Starter would intermittently not engage when warm.
Pulled the starter with the intent to replace it.
On the bench I noticed the corroded connection on the solenoid output to starter motor connection.
Cleaned connection, mounted starter in vice and verified with 12v it worked and reinstalled, That was over a year ago with lots of warm starts and no problems since!!

 

As per post 7, could be connections/cables. A voltage drop test on the starter circuit will reveal all!

Also could be the ignition switch. I had similar random no-crank from starter with all electrics/voltage OK/fully charged battery. Turned out to be poor connection at ignition switch. When it occurred, the circuit from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid seemed totally dead but usually within the next two or thee attempts it would act perfectly normal. The tip off for that was one time when I turned the key/nothing, I reached under and jiggled the switch with the key still in the "start" position and the starter engaged.

I pulled the switch (bit of a PITA), disassembled/cleaned/reassembled and it's been fine ever since.

 

Everything gets old and quits, even good starters. From the description either the solenoid isnt getting good power or its bad/sticking.
If you can hear the fuel pump but not the "Thunk" from the solenoid. it rules out a lot of stuff.

 

Have you noticed the new sound when starter does turning?

 

Hi Steve - Who did you get to do the R&R of the starter? I'm also in Houston and looking to find someone that can help with my (recently acquired) '79 308.

 

Had a problem on my 328 where the battery seemed dead when hot.
Turned out the battery cables got loose when they warmed up.
Replacing the battery cable connectors fixed it.

 

Glad you got it resolved with this new starter. It's not an easy R&R, good call on getting a mechanic to do it.

For reference, back in 2014 the original Bosch starter seized solid on my 84 Euro 308 QV - it started fine, up until it didn't the next time. I R&R'd it myself and installed one of the starters you linked (also referred to as a Gustafson starter, there are a lot of references found here by searching for 'Gustafson'). 9 years later, it's still going strong - and it does sound a bit different and spins the motor a bit faster.

Cheers,
Gordon