heretic Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 I'll preface with... I've made absolutely zero changes with my truck in well over a month & have been driving it everywhere daily for 3 weeks with zero issues. This morning I stopped at a local coffee shop around the corner from work. When I got in my truck to leave the coffee shop the starter motor kept "running" after the truck had already started & the key was in the on position... no big deal, I pop the hood & disconnect the starter solenoid ... NOTHING, it keeps cranking over, so I hop in the truck & turn the key off... STILL NOTHING the starter keeps cranking. I reach behind the key switch & unplug it, still nothing... I put it in gear, stalled the motor then disconnected the battery. The ground cable at the battery was hot so of course I figure its a ground issue of some sort but I haven't a clue where to start looking & on the surface the wiring all looks good & the starter looks relatively new by the PO. So at lunch I go to see if I can figure it out. After multiple attempts & pure happenstance I'm sure, I get it to "run" without cranking the starter but its idling very erratic. I disconnect the negative lead on the battery & it smooths out & appears to idle normally. I'm stumped, any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted May 2, 2013 Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Not a ground issue. The starter solenoid got stuck. The cable was hot because it was cranking so long, and loaded in excess of normal since it was in gear and trying to turn the wheels too. Probably got a pretty good spark when disconnecting the battery. You apparently managed to free up the solenoid, but basically the starter should be replaced. Unless you disassemble and clean the solenoid, even if you do get it working it could happen again if it's sticky. Or the contacts "weld" themselves together. In any case, the fact the pulling the solenoid lead didn't make it stop cranking means the problem isn't in the wiring, it's in the starter itself. The weird idle is probably due to the alternator being loaded- your battery got run down pretty good with a stuck-on starter. Pulling the neg cable just took the battery out of the loop. It should be fine once it charges up. Quote Link to comment
heretic Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 first... THANK YOU.!! that makes sense. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.