test for stareter/generator

[Guest rwolf]

Can someone tell me where to place the leads from my battery charger to bench test the starter/generator? It is out of the car because it would not spin when the ignition was turned on.

[gregleck]

I just had this same problem - car cranked several times, but did not start, then starter would not turn at all.

 

Took the starter out to test it.  Negative (ground) lead from battery goes to case.  Positive lead from battery goes to the motor

terminal on the starter.  (This terminal is connected to the solenoid by a short, thick, wire)

 

Be sure to use heavy duty, thick, jumper cables.  On a replacement starter, I tried to test it by using 8 gauge wire  jumper leads.

It sparked but did not turn.  When I put the starter into the car, it did work.

[ROD W]

rwolf,  As gregleck said use your battery to check the starter.  Use the heavy duty battery cables.  Positive to motor terminal and negative to earth ( outside of starter case )  Ensure your starter brushes are engaged,by pushing in large tapered starter rod.  Only just touch the earth cable to case as it will spin very quickly as there is no resistance. You don,t want to damage the starter. To check that it is motoring properly ( or generator brushes are working ) connect an electrical wire to terminal A ( going to top generator brush) and another to the field coil terminal, join these and connect to positive terminal of battery. When checking generator ensure generator brushes are in contact with commutator by removing the large starter rod.  It might be your ignition switch that is the problem.  Hope this helps.