I just want to touch base in case I missed something. Truck has 140k + miles. Starter is OE. Let me know Thanks!
Batteries good.
I turn the key and hear a click in the engine bay is all.
2nd key try hear nothing, This repeats.
Checked fuses.
Swap in a spare relay = no change. Reversed the swap.
Standing buy the fuse box & touching the relay I activate the remote start and could hear and feel the relay cycle, but silence at the starter.
Disconnected batteries, put truck in the air with tire off, visual inspection and fastener tightness OK.
Clip on a momentary rocker, connect battery. First bump the solenoid cycled (clicked) 2nd bump the Bendix spun.
My guess was the next bump would spin the engine so I didn't and pulled the rocker switch. Turned the key and she fired up.
I'm thinking to change the starter. It may continue to start until I am deep in the dark some place and strand me.
Looking at Rockauto I see ACDelco Gold New, no core, cheaper than ACDelco Gold Reman with core involved. Go figure.

Thanks

 

I cannot find L33 specific torque specs for the starter bolts. Cast iron blocks show 37ft lbs.

 

Nice round number. Not 35, not 40. Gotta be SUPER CRITICAL, right???

Actually, I think if you look it up, 50 N-m is the standard torque (the torque to be applied to a given size fastener in the absence of any overriding requirements) for that size hardware (10mm std thread, whatever that is, 1.5mm I think butt don't quote me on that), which converts to some weird number that rounds off to 37 ft-lbs. IOW, if the engineers thought they needed some other amount of clamping force, they'd have used a different size hardware.

There's a rule about converting numbers from one unit system to another, like metric to Imperial or the like. And that is, to look at the number of significant figures (non-zero numbers before or after the decimal point) that you're converting from. Which means, if somebody says that the range of a missile is "about 10km", that doesn't mean that it's 6.214 miles, and you're in danger at 6.213, or safe at 6.215. More like, it's "about" 6 miles, or a maybe shade more: so if you're not much more than 6 miles away from whoever is shooting it at you, stand back a little bit. This is in that same category of things.

Additionally, those "specs" come from factory assembly, where they use automated equipment, that all has settings for its tightness. In that world the same machine can tighten anything to anywhere from near zero N-m to near infinity. They gotta set it to SOMETHING. So they use ... wait for it ... the STANDARD TORQUE for the fastener they're tightening. How "critical" the EXACT number is, is usually ... minimal; then they print those specs converted to ft-lbs for all us Neanderthals out here. Which is NOT to say "don't tighten to the factory specs"; only, that the factory specs for things that don't involve material distortion, like head gaskets or rod bolts, are ALOT less complex than we out here sometimes give them credit for. Like, I'm thinking, a good pull on a typical ½" ratchet, would do just fine. Same as it always has been for putting any starter on any engine in any year of any brand of any size vehicle with a block cast out of any material.

Just tighten the damn thing up and move on. Doesn't too much matter what material the bolt goes into. Clamping force is clamping force.

Don't get the starter for a 5.3. Get one for 6.0 such as LQ9. It'll be a slightly larger electric motor, which a little goes A LONG way (power output, all else equal, goes up as the CUBE of one basic dimension: double the diameter, keep the "aspect ratio" the same, output is multiplied by 8) will spin your 5.3 that much faster.

No idea whether a "new" starter is better than a rebuilt OE. THIMK... it's a steel shell, some mag iron, some copper wire, an aluminum casting, and last and least, some wear-out parts like bearings and brushes which can easily be replaced, by YOURSELF if you want ... WHAT THE HELL is "better" about "new", in and of itself, than "rebuilt"? I'd be more concerned about whether the "new" one actually incorporates some sort of updated technology or hard-earned learning, or if it's otherwise identical butt was merely made somewhere where labor is cheeeeeeper, or if it's been "value engineered" compared to the OE, or what. No idea what if any of that applies to that particular part; just, that's what you should focus on, if "better" matters to you.

 

Thanks for that, you spent an amount of your time on it.
But the question is if anyone has seen a GM documented torque spec tor the L33 aluminum block starter bolts. The 37ft lbs is in the 2005 trucks service manual for every RPO engine but nothing specific to the L33. The fact I cannot find it intrigues me. I'm not buying its the same as the cast iron blocks.

No way am I going to try and hit the 37ft ls. Nor let it hold up my repairs. I set my TW to the 37lbs and pulled them in until I was comfortable and it did not reach the point to click off. And I don't have to post here to figure that out.

Anyway the new starter is in. I'm sure there are loads of starter replacement threads on the Webb so the only thing I can contribute is having the truck since new in 2004 and searching for the replacement via VIN number the ACDelco Gold box I received contained a larger, heavier, and more powerful unit.

Part weight is 8lbs vs the 6.8bls original.
Motor O.D is 2-7/8" vs. 2-1/2".
Motor Length is 9" vs. 8.25"
Power rating is 1.7KW vs. 1.0KW.

It bolted up fine. The sound and turnover speed is a totally different experience.
Thanks

 

The smaller one on the left is a 6489, came stock on the 4.8 and 5.3 liter, they work fine until worn out: Usual fix is a brush set, and a solenoid, and clean up the drive pinion splines, grease the planetary gears and front nose needle bearing, run it another decade.
. The upgrayyd on right is the newer 6494 first used on Escalade, and the 6.0 HD trucks, a slight bit more torque. You might have gotten lucky and bought a decent one, if it's **** you'll replace the solenoid in a few years. TRY and get a good Delco or ZEN solenoid when the time comes. Lot of really shitty components out there.

 

Thanks, Good to know. I went through all the photos I took not finding one of ID marking on the solenoid.
They do all they can to give one the warm fuzzy feeling, if Made in Mexico can do that. But only time will tell.

Here are a couple more pics, and as usual pics loading methods are broken. Always a trip loading pics here.
Reman Pic 1
Reman Pic 2
Reman Pic 3
Reman Pic 4