not really. just a standard cheapie voltage meter will do fine for anything youd be checking!

might want to look around localy for a alternator/starter rebuild shop and take your starter to them to check out and see what is actualy bad. it sounds very odd how you keep going thru them!

theres gotta be a reason why they are frying so quickly! maybe they are not dis-engaging from the starter wire not turning off with the start position.... that would keep the starter gear engaged and can easily fry the internals that would give a failed test.

and at least a rebuild shop can give you alot better service and MOST the time for stock application they can put heavier duty parts inside the units so they can take more abuse and hopefully last longer.


for instance my friends old 94chevy truck had a alternator problem not charging his truck, ended up being the activation wire not powering the alternator so i jumped the activation wire with a ignition wire and tho it charged good for about a month or two the autozone alternators kept burning out!!!! he went thru about 6 of them! good thing for him i had a lifetime warrente on mine so he just kept trading them out in my name. but FINALY he went to a alternator shop and they built him a heavier duty stock replacement alternator and so far he hasnt had a problem with it since.

 

Last night I took a 10 inch breaker bar and hammer and wacked the starter motor pretty good. It subsequently started and then would not start again. After giving it three more good hits it started repeatedly. This morning I went to drive it to work and the CEL light came on. I had my code scanner next to me at the time and the code came back P1359 Contrl Ignition misfire or something like that. Aside from the CEL code, which I am going to guess means I need a new distributor cap, what do you all think I should do further about the starter

 

P1359 may indicate a problem with a wire running between the distributor and ECU or a bad ECU (see diagram). It sounds as though you are getting bum starters from your auto parts store. Get a refund and purchase a new starter elsewhere.