Replacing my starter with a gear reduction style

i dont think the ring gears will hold up to the high torque

Hey guys, here's some pics and video from my install of this same starter. Prior to ordering the starter I PM'd JerseyJeep to see if he was still happy with his and he was. My last starter (NOS) was a lemon, it had signs of water damage and I replaced the solenoid last summer. This time it was the main drive that went. While troubleshooting the old starter I found the ground cable casing was melting, so I replaced both the ground and battery cables just prior to this installation.

The SAASE company rep on the phone said he had sold a few of these starters for these trucks and that drilling 1/2" holes to 5/8" would not void the 2 year warranty. It was just $15 to ship it to a business address. They sent me the model with the TCS switch (over crank protection) at no extra charge because they were out of the U392412VB starters but should have more soon.

The starter that arrived was made by UniPoint, a Taiwanese manufacturer. It appears to be a clone of the Delco 39MT starter and supposedly is as reliable in independent tests. I can't find the PDF I read to share but they're tested to 22,000 cycles or something like that and a very close match to the Delco model in all respects.

My truck didn't come with a relay originally so all I had to hook up was the starter button wire, battery cable, and ground.

There may be more room but there's zero room for getting a socket around the mounting bolts, you're kind of stuck using a open ended wrench to tighten those 15/16" bolts.

Note, I adjusted the mounting flange (6 bolts) so the drain hole was pretty close to the 6 o'clock position. However, there is no threaded hole for the adjusting bolts in the high noon position. I spoke to the tech at SAASE and they said that's not uncommon and it was OK to use just 5 bolts to hold the mounting flange at this position. Note, the flange doesn't quite match up to shim on one side, I've enclosed a picture of this under-bite, but I think that's minor. I used black RTV on hand for the gasket.

The position of the relay was easy to adjust, just loosen the bolts and slide the band. I did this to move the relay away from the heat of the flexible exhaust pipe.

Here's a video of mine starting. I spun it twice without fuel and gave it juice on the third spin. My first impressions are its a little softer and gentler then my old surplus military starters, not what I was going for but for the price, newness, reliability, and warranty I'm not going to complain.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0dX-2zzCos[/media]

The faster a starter spins a diesel, the better for starting, especially in cold weather. Does the gear reduction starter spin it as fast as the direct drive in good condition?
Regards Marti

The docs I've read say the 39MT starters spin up to 30% faster then direct drives, it does seem to wind up faster the longer you hold down the starter button. I can give you good winter test results in about 6 months or so...

Subscribed.

Just got mine in the mail yesterday. See attached brochures for the 39mt starter series.

I had opportunity to test my starter over the holiday. The overnight low was 7 °F. The gear reduction starter spun the engine over strong and, after a few tries, the engine started. This is using #2 battery cables.

A few years ago, we had an overnight low of 4 °F. At that time, even with a 600W block heater in the water pump housing, the stock starter struggled to turn the engine over and I wasn't able to get the truck started without running down the battery.

In my humble opinion, this starter is a good value and gains performance.

I just replaced my starter with a nice rebuilt one from an engine much larger than the multifuel. The starter is almost 2 inches longer and larger in diameter..
for good measure, threw in a couple Odessey 1120 CCA bats. now it cranks sooo fast you can hardly here the "cycles" and thats on WMO!

rolling18 said:

I just replaced my starter with a nice rebuilt one from an engine much larger than the multifuel. The starter is almost 2 inches longer and larger in diameter..
for good measure, threw in a couple Odessey 1120 CCA bats. now it cranks sooo fast you can hardly here the "cycles" and thats on WMO!

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Is it a 50mt? Same HP as the 39mt. You can get a 50mt with a prelube pump.

Sorry, I know not of witch you speak...

Any updates on this thread? It was an interesting read. How did they do in the winter cold starting? Thanks

Works great.

JasonS said:

Works great.

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Hello Jason, could you tell us where you bought your starter ? Also did you buy the Delco or a clone ?
Thanks, rustystud.

rustystud said:

Hello Jason, could you tell us where you bought your starter ? Also did you buy the Delco or a clone ?
Thanks, rustystud.

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I bought it from SAASE. It is a clone starter.

Bump

brianp454 said:

Bump

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Bump what? Are you looking for info or just bumping your post count?

gimpyrobb said:

Bump what? Are you looking for info or just bumping your post count?

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It was a drive-by bumping.

The 39MT clone in my M109 is still working great 7 years after installation. I would buy one again for my other deuces if that need arises.