W900 Cat starter click

I had the exact same issue. I replaced it with a those brand new high torque starters that are in the newer trucks and problem went away. Yes.... it is a solenoid issue. But most come seal these days. They want you to get a whole new starter. Yours should still be under warranty I believe.

 

Mine did the same thing, but finally gave up the ghost. Sunday morning, 1 1/2 hours later, problem solved.

 

Was yours new or reman?

Reason I ask is that's a big problem with the Delco starters these days. All the starter and Alt shops I talked to say it's a common issue due to poor parts.

I have done like @Diesel Dave and went with a gear reduction starter

 

Not sure about a 97, but my 03 has a solenoid mounted inside the battery box towards the front of the truck. But, I would think that if you are getting the "click" you are more likely to have another starter issue. I agree with the above about switching to the new style high torque style. I've been doing it on all my trucks and they are great.

 

I went with one, and it didn't crank fast enough to start my truck. It wouldn't start without an ether injection. With the regular starter it cranked fast enough, the high torque was just enough slower that it started much much harder. Only about 1 month later, it wouldn't start at all.

I went with the full size starter this time.

 

I changed mine after I had to get another driver push the button while I hit starter with my winch bar.

 

The solenoid they're talking about is on the starter itself. It pulls a lever that pushes the gear down to the end of the shaft to engage the flywheel. If it's bad, I stops the starter from spinning.

These are essentially overgrown gm car starters. When I changed the starter on my Buick Skylark (1970), the starter and solenoid came separate.

 

Kenworth or Peterbilt. That's where I got mine.