I'm working on a 1996 Chevy Astro that we recently purchased. Starts and runs just fine but the starter seems to be making some noise. It cranks every time and turns over reasonably fast so it doesn't seem like the starter is "bad", but as it turns over it makes a distinct tick tick tick tick noise. No grinding or gnashing of gears just a loud clean *TICK*
I pulled the starter this weekend and cleaned all the contacts at the starter itself. The battery is fairly new and otherwise functions great. Contacts at the battery look clean. I figured next to check the grounds to the block and see if there was any issue there.
Anyone got any other ideas? Is this signs of impending starter death? Or worse, flex plate issue? I'm also curious about replacement, the cheap online price for a replacement OEM style starter is around $150. Are there other options, lighter/stronger/better? 4.3L shares a lot with small block V8s, so I was hoping for an alternative that was less $s.
_________________
95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)
MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good