I decided to put a new XS powermaster mini starter in my car the other day. The original starter worked fine, but thought it was time to upgrade. Got the old starter out, got the new one in, hooked everything up and it just clicked. I noticed I had some paint on the surface of the block where the starter mounts so I sanded all that off and tried again. This time it did turn over. Let the car run for 5 mins or so shut it off went to start it again and "click". I thought maybe I needed to add some shims, added one at a time which I don't think helped at all. Then decided to test the starter, jumped the battery terminal to the ignition terminal, which worked so that tells me the starter solenoid works. Tested the volts at the end of the positive cable, got 13.5 volts. Went and check the grounds, one goes near the top end of the radiator support and main bolts to power steering/alternator bracket, those looked ok.

Doing some research on the powermaster XS starter I've found out that it requires more amps to get to operate than the OEM starter. Talking with powermaster they have indicated that the ignition switches are known to be the issue in 3rd gen GM cars. I got the old ignition switch out and ordered one from auto zone. I'm hoping this will do the trick. Another thought was to put a push button ignition on, but would prefer to have the ignition work correctly as it should. The chassis does have 160k on it, so the switch has some miles on it.

Any other thoughts or ideas? I have searched/read many posts on here to try check or try different things. Want to make sure I'm covering all the bases.

 

Update: I did put a new ignition switch in, didn't have any luck with that. For testing purposes I did run a ground wire from the battery to the starter with no luck. I decided to go with plan B, I put a push button ignition switch in, got everything wired up and works fine. One thing I cant figure out is now the key ignition actually started working now....go figure. One other item to note is that I did check the voltage at the ignition terminal while trying to start the car before I hooked the push button up...I had 9.5 volts.

 

did you get model number 9540. Is it working ok now with regular key ignition switch. I'm about to install the 9540 soon.

 

Those powermaster starters are junk. Mine had bolts way too short that broke off the 2 threads they engaged in the housing, got some longer allen heads and fixed it however it was always slow to turn over and suddely just smoked up, completely burnt on the inside. I'll keep to my tilton starters. At least they are damn near bullet proof.

 

No, it doesnt work with the key ignition. It does work with the push button ignition which its directly wired to the starter to ensure I'm getting enough volts to the starter.

With the starter being so close to the header I think I need to install a heat shield. I have had a couple time were I think the starter got hot and wouldnt start.

 

What part #'s you guys using.