The starter in my 84 244 has been slow since I got it. Never thought much about it since I've had other cars with slow starters. Kind of a "waaaarrrrr waaaarrrr" instead of a "warwarwar". No big deal, right?

I was at the Dr's (kidney stone... ick) last week when the slow starter got so slow it wouldn't work anymore. No click, no motor noise, no nothing. The only clue that I had that I was turning the key was the seat belt light dimmed. So I knew the switch and probably the relay were ok.

2 days later I had the car towed home (did I mention I had a kidney stone? Just took a cab home from the Dr's. Didn't wanna deal with the car.) *@&%#$*& tow truck driver beat on my poor starter with his Mag light thinking the solenoid went bad. I tried to tell him I had already DONE that. Along with playing with the shifter, etc. Checked the cabling, and even ran a jumper from the batt to the starter terminal. It was very dead.

Rebuilt starter $50 from AutoZone.

Pair of 4-legged jackstands = Priceless (Neighbor backed into my car while I was under it!!!!)

My biggest gripe is the way the bolts and nuts are installed. There isn't enough room to get any real leverage on either end of the bolt. Even with extensions, universals, breaker bars, etc. Racked my knuckles real good. :-( Once they're loose, the swapping out of the starter was easy. Getting enough torque on the bolts was again a pain. Sigh.

Don