Starter fireworks

[Neophyte]

I went to start the M817 this weekend and saw a shower of fireworks through the floor. I removed the access panel, checked the connections......and noticed the battery connection at the solenoid had melted around the eye connector. The 2nd wire (same terminal) had burned/corroded 1/2 of the eye connector off. The nuts were tight, connecting strap to starter locked down. I clipped the bad connector off, will splice in another eye connector (as the wire.....about 4 gauge.....is a smidge to short)...and see if that does the trick.

The TM doesn't show a strap from the solenoid to the starter (this one has one as in the picture below, removed and wire brushed)......possible this is an after market set up and might of been wired incorrectly?

 

[gimpyrobb]

Nah, theres different starters out there. It worked fine up till "the show" right?

 

[Neophyte]

It did. I'll splice in a new 4 gage wire and connector and see if that solves this. I have never seen that kind of electrical arcing.....makes you double check your cab fire extinguisher.

Thanks Gimpyrobb

 

[gimpyrobb]

Make sure you check your batterys too. I have had terminals melted off cause of issues like this.

 

[Neophyte]

I concur. This is what the battery terminals looked like when I received the M925....replaced 2 of the 4 batteries as a result.

 

[Adrian A]

I'd bet that the starter windings are going bad. I'd take it out and have it tested. A rebuilder would be a good place as they likely have a replacement at a good price. I just went through this on my m35a2. Got a rebuilt delco replacement for $200.

 

[Cleveland Iron]

I've said it before... I'm a big fan of fusible links. Much cheaper than any sort of fried batteries, vaporized terminals or even ( heaven forbid ) a fire. If you want, hang a remote 24V bulb across the link to show the link is fried.

 

[autoshopteacher]

Be sure to check the ground side also. Especially battery to battery and ensure a good cable and connetion to the chassis.

 

[Neophyte]

Spliced in a new 4 gauge wire and eye terminal, polished all connections.....started right up. A corroded eye terminal (missing bottom half) was arching and appeared to be the cause of this.

 

[Cleveland Iron]

Heat shrink tubing. Good man.

 

[rrrr]

Changed out my starter as well. I cleaned all the connections and checked the batteries. The connections between my batteries was almost melted off. I put two new connectors on cleaned everything up and good to go. I was glad that I had the issue with the starter because I had no other indications of issues.

 

[Neophyte]

I was looking for a 4 gauge splice kit, and low and behold, Sears Hardware had them for $8.00 (includes splice connector and HEAVY DUTY shrink tubing). I had to use a blow torch to get it to shrink, heat gun wasn't cutting it. This saved me having to rewire this time of year.