Starter Issues that I can't figure out

[weekendclimber]

You're welcome. Did you check the resistance in the power wire to the starter? I remember seeing that you checked some wiring but can't recall what you checked for wiring wise. Good luck!

Yes sir. The resistance on the wire from the battery to the starter was less than 50 ohms, so it was good to go. Even hooked up a jumper cable to the terminal connector (with the battery unhooked) and checked that I got continuity from the wire to the other end of the jumper cables.

 

[Bad Luck]

I'm not sure what spec is but that sounds kinda high to me. I would expect to see single digit numbers, but like I said I'm not sure what spec is.

 

[Kanoe]

I'm not sure what spec is but that sounds kinda high to me. I would expect to see single digit numbers, but like I said I'm not sure what spec is.

Spec on a short piece of 4 gauge wire will be just about zero. Should measure a dead short same as if you touched the probes together without the wire. No resistance value here.

Realistically, the best test of your battery cables is to measure the voltage between the starter power stud and engine block while getting someone else to crank the engine. This will tell you if you are getting excessive voltage drop on either the positive or negative battery cable at the same time.

The way these cables look to your DVM is not a guarantee of how they will perform when asking them to pass 75 or 100 amps to the starter. My 3rz draws about 75A measured with a DC clamp meter, not sure about yours.

 

[weekendclimber]

I'm not sure what spec is but that sounds kinda high to me. I would expect to see single digit numbers, but like I said I'm not sure what spec is.

Just to be clear, the reason I say "less than 50 ohms" is because that's what the beeping on my multi-meter would get triggered by to indicate continuity. I'm assuming it would be basically zero, but there is definitely continuity. I will double check that actual value tonight to ensure and confirm it is near or at zero.

 

[weekendclimber]

Pulled the fan off and the pulleys and belts attached from the front of the engine this evening. Put a 19mm socket on the crank bolt and spun it around no problem, 3 to 4 times. That's a major relief, as I was worried all day that I had a bad head gasket or worse, cracked head or block. Looked under the radiator cap too and there was nice red coolant sitting just below the top.

Now, back to square one :mmph:

 

[Bad Luck]

Like Kanoe stated earlier, you should do a voltage drop on the positive and negative cables while cranking. If that tests out then I would put an amp clamp on the positive wire to test the load the starter is drawing.

 

[weekendclimber]

Like Kanoe stated earlier, you should do a voltage drop on the positive and negative cables while cranking. If that tests out then I would put an amp clamp on the positive wire to test the load the starter is drawing.

That's the next thing I was thinking about. Going to try and put a jumper cable from the battery to the starter to bypass all the wiring to it. Probably pickup a load tester from the local hipster fraud too, if that doesn't work.

 

[natedogg11c]

this is a very similar issue i had. truck stranded me with the click click. got it home swapped the starter. it worked for 3 weeks and it stranded me again with the click click. swapped starter again and it didnt fix it. i fiddled with the starter relay and it fixed it so i swapped out the relay. fixed it for a few more days. stranded again... come to find out the pos battery connector had gone bad and my blue wire was loose so if you havent checked them give the wires on your pos terminal a gentle tug and a look over. sorry for the long write up but felt better about explaining my process to you

 

[weekendclimber]

this is a very similar issue i had. truck stranded me with the click click. got it home swapped the starter. it worked for 3 weeks and it stranded me again with the click click. swapped starter again and it didnt fix it. i fiddled with the starter relay and it fixed it so i swapped out the relay. fixed it for a few more days. stranded again... come to find out the pos battery connector had gone bad and my blue wire was loose so if you havent checked them give the wires on your pos terminal a gentle tug and a look over. sorry for the long write up but felt better about explaining my process to you

This is really helpful. :cheers:

I did the Big 3 Upgrade about 3-4 years ago and I'm wondering if maybe that starter cable has done some corroding internally. It checks for continuity, but when the starter is pulling a bunch of amps it may not be able to handle it. I think bypassing it with some jumper cables from the battery to the starter terminal would be a good test to confirm that theory.

As a side note, [MENTION=317436]natedogg11c[/MENTION], do you climb 11c?

 

[natedogg11c]

glad i could help someone with my frustrating situation. as far as climbing what do you mean? i climb a ladder occasionally but rock climbing is a negative. 11c is my MOS (Indirect Fire Infantryman) and it tends to make its way into my usernames lol

 

[weekendclimber]

glad i could help someone with my frustrating situation. as far as climbing what do you mean? i climb a ladder occasionally but rock climbing is a negative. 11c is my MOS (Indirect Fire Infantryman) and it tends to make its way into my usernames lol

Got it, lol! That's a rock climbing grade which would make you a pretty hardcore climber is why I ask. BTW, thank you for your service sir:infidel:

 

[SpenO]

I had the same issue on my 96. Went through 3 starters trying to figure it out and would still just get one single click. It turned out to be a bad engine ground. When I pulled the engine ground off it didnt look dirty at all but I roughed it up with some scotch bright just to be sure and the thing fired right up. Havent had an issue since. I know you said you looked at your grounds but try scrubbing them up with scotch bright to see if it helps!

 

[weekendclimber]

I had the same issue on my 96. Went through 3 starters trying to figure it out and would still just get one single click. It turned out to be a bad engine ground. When I pulled the engine ground off it didnt look dirty at all but I roughed it up with some scotch bright just to be sure and the thing fired right up. Havent had an issue since. I know you said you looked at your grounds but try scrubbing them up with scotch bright to see if it helps!

Definitely will try that! Thanks for the tip :thumb3:

 

[weekendclimber]

BOOYAH KASHAW!!!!!

Connected the jumper cables from the battery to the starter rerouting both the ground and the positive and it fired up like it wasn't even a thing. Totally appreciate all the help and the advice for things to check. Now I get to put it all back together this weekend. On the plus side, I've got an extra starter too:-/

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

BOOYAH KASHAW!!!!!

Connected the jumper cables from the battery to the starter rerouting both the ground and the positive and it fired up like it wasn't even a thing. Totally appreciate all the help and the advice for things to check. Now I get to put it all back together this weekend. On the plus side, I've got an extra starter too:-/

So, what did you fix? Sounds like you verified it was either the battery to the starter connection or a ground from the starter to engine block to the chassis?

 

[weekendclimber]

So, what did you fix? Sounds like you verified it was either the battery to the starter connection or a ground from the starter to engine block to the chassis?

So I went back to verify whether it was the battery to starter wire, or a bad ground.

First, I removed the jumper cable positive connection from the battery to the starter solenoid terminal. I left it for the negative battery terminal to the case of the starter to see if it was a bad ground connection. Tried to turn it over and only got the click again.

Reconnected the positive battery terminal to the starter solenoid terminal with the jumper cables and removed the other "ground test" cables. Tried to turn it over again and it fired right up.

So, it appears it was the battery to solenoid terminal connection all along. Going to go through it all today and check everything along that wire. I did the Big 3 upgrade a while back, as previously mentioned, so it could be just simply the terminal connection or maybe the wire is going bad.

I'll update the thread once I know specifically what it was.