How many amps is too much?

[Grug]

When I had my 1993 Nissan starter bench tested because it wasn't working, the service fella' said it drew almost 100 amps to start it and then around 75 amps while it was running (so the starter did work on his bench).

So, is that too many amps?? Is drawing too many amps a sign of a bad starter?? How many amps should it be drawing to get itself going and start the truck? I can't find any kind of specifications for this in my Haynes manual.

I'm just confused because I thought the starter was dead, but it worked on the bench test...but after reading a different thread in this forum, I'm concerned that it's drawing too many amps.

[vgames33]

I'm not sure how many amps its supposed to pull, but if it works outside the truck, perhaps something is wrong other than the starter?

[curtis73]

That sounds fine to me. I had a starter once that drew nearly 200 when hot and it still cranked... slowly, but it cranked. Fried the battery real fast The best way to truly test it is on the truck. Find someone with an inductive test clamp. Freewheeling amperage draw says very little about it. Put a load on it and see what it draws.

Of course its off now. Might as well have it rebuilt.

You also didn't say HOW it wasn't working; click? no click? sluggish to turn?

[UncleBob]

a spike upto 150-200 amps, depending on factors such as compression ratio, is quite normal. Bench testing isn't very useful since there's no load. A simple voltage drop would tell you a lot more, on the car/truck

[2.2 Straight six]

aren't there some test benches that work like dynos? they put a load on the starter and then run it to see how much amperage it draws when under certain loads. i'm pretty sure i've seen one somewhere.

[KiwiBacon]

100amps is will within a "normal" range.

I had a starter pulling over 500 amps on 24v. It needed a good cleanout (carbon from the brushes).

[curtis73]

Yeah, but those are "metric" amps, kiwi.

[KiwiBacon]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Yeah, but those are "metric" amps, kiwi.

But the exchange rate we buy them at makes them soo much better.