QuestionEric, I had to ask a new question - Too many follow-ups. Your last question to me was did I tighten the starter stud screw? Yes I did and I also took out the plug and the engine turned fine. Any more suggestions?
AnswerI have had bad battery cables, but bad cables are rare. Do you have a voltmeter to measure the voltage drop across the cables? If you Google "how to measure a voltage drop" or "voltage drop" you will find several sites.
I know it is a pain to trouble shoot some starter problems but I replaced a starter once and the problem turned out to be a bad cable. Cable was $12...starter $122. Needless to say I remember the lesson well.
Since starters are still pretty expensive, I would recommend exhausting all troubling shooting tactics includings measuring the voltage drop across the cables. Briggs sells some special tools to measure starter current draw but again, the tools are really expensive. Last I checked was the DC shunt was about $80. I have one but rarely use it.
Another option you have is to see if there are any electric motor rebuilders in you local area. Often times they will advertise under automotive electric rebuilding. There is a local shop in our area who will rebuild the starter for $40...much cheaper than new.
A third option is to order an after market starter. Several websites sell these starters. The are much cheaper than OEM starters but I do not know the quality as I have never used them.
Let me know what you find as I keep track of how many bad starters folks find.
Eric
