Well I've had a exhaust leak for about a week or so, knew what it was but I had to wait for some extra cash to get the bolts, drill bit, heli coil, and tap set, well of I had to get do the job while Connecticut was having 108 degree weather lol. Well that went off without a hitch and just 2 t-shirts used and not from dirt either. Well after I did the job the truck started ran crappy (forgot to plug a sensor in) after I got it running good again, no leaks (GREAT!!!!) or so I thought. Well after about an hour of not running, had to move the truck so I can charge the A/C, the starter just clicked, but I was holding 12v with just the key turned. Well I tapped the starter and she fired right back up. I figured it was just stuck or something, went home did some stuff there, went saw my girl with no issues, dropped her off still no issues, stopped at a gas station, shut it off and went to turn it back over after getting gas and it hit again, popped the clutch and it started but with ISSUES this time, all the gauges were dim, voltage was down to 12v, but yet the whole time before was holding 14v go figure. But my question is, can a starter drain a battery after the truck is running, because while I was driving the volts went up as high as 13v, then dropped back down to 12v. Alternator is a month old, Battery is a Optima Yellow top, and it's only a year old, and the starter is the only thing I can see that could drain it like that.

 

it could be the starter solenoid could be stuck on, a friend of mine with a 91 dakota had that issue.

 

Well I know I'm gonna have to jump it tomorrow to get it to work to test everything but that what it seems to me is the starter is fried and I know its the origonal starter too. Guess its time to replace the tired and worn out things

 

Thats a very interesting electrical problem. In theory, if the starter is engaged to the flywheel while the engine is running, it will both draw power and provide power to the electrical system depending on what rpms the engine is spinning at. Lets see if I can shed some light on this (or confuse everyone... whichever)...

All electric motors have whats called a back emf, which depends on load, rpm, etc. What a back emf is, is a reverse electrical current thats caused by the magnetic field of the spinning motor. Basically, the back emf is what stops the motor from spinning infinitely fast. Its like a reverse "output" voltage thats competes with the input voltage. So lets say a no-load, frictionless motor is spinning with an input of 12 volts, when it is up to its "terminal velocity" (for lack of a better term), it is providing 12 volts back into the system, and current draw approaches 0. So apply that to a starter with little to no load on it (the starter would have little to no load on it because the engine is under its own power)...

If the engine is at idle, its likely spinning slower than the no-load speed of the starter, so the starter is going to still be drawing current. This is likely the voltage loss you see. But if the engine is spinning the starter faster than the no-load speed of the starter (a speed I can't determine without knowing the no-load speed of the starter and gear reduction of the starter to flywheel... but lets say for the purposes of this conversation that you're red-lining the engine), then there will be a back emf created that is greater than the voltage put into the starter, which would actually cause the starter to act like a 2nd alternator and you should see at least 14.4 volts, if not higher.

I hope this makes sense.

Oh, and you should change the title to Thank God for 4 cyl standards... cause I don't think I could push my extended cab, 4x4 v8 truck fast enough to pop the clutch and expect it to kick over the big v8 fast enough to push-start it!!! Unless I had it in 4 lo or something! :P

 

Actually the higher the gear the better... I'm betting a decent push in second gear would start our trucks no problem..

And I have had to push start my B2 a couple times, both times I was way up in the mountains and would have been screwed if I had an automatic..

 

Well I took everything out and tested everything, starter was fried but that was only part of the issue, put a new starter in went to get it to turn over "CLICK" WTF I thought, went to do a start it with a screw driver, *shazam* turned right over, started testing the wires, the ground terminal on the battery was fried, replaced that. gave everything another 1 2 look over, and pow got the girl running again lol. Now if I can only figure out why the CEL is still throwing off the P1391 code still, it's for either the crank or cam sensors replaced the crank that's all good cam on the other hand, every cam sensor I put it wont let it fire except the supposed bad one.