Cat power, yes to all the above and more so, we've installed extra ground wires from the starter to the main frame, just in case for some reason it was losing ground somewhere through the starter, before worrying about starting this thread I found the positive cable was bad via the voltage drop test, so it was replaced.
We did a simulated amp test with a carbon pile tester, the only solution I came up with, was even though the starter bench tested fine in all aspects, it sucked too many amps when in the machine. This wasn't the first starter I've had in the same machine, so in essence I got with the luck of the draw, two starters back to back that were bad. I went instead of the factory model of starter, we put on an aftermarket gear reduction starter instead, the only replacement I could to replace the factory starter. We then again did a amp simulated test and with the gear reduction starter in, even though its not idea for amp draw but rather on the high side, its a fraction of the amp draw on the last starter as its cranking.
I never bought the new digital amp tester, basically nobody had one when I needed it, so like most, now that I no longer have an urgent need for one, I still haven't ordered one and not sure I will, as one told me, by the time I get to need it in the testing equation, I've already figured out what's bad or have it fixed. Thanks for the help, input and discussion everyone, I really did learn a lot from you all.
