Hey all,

Before I get to the meat and potatoes of my issue, I should probably provide a bit of background info; I got my truck running and idling for about 10 minutes and got it up to temp before it suddenly started revving to max RPM, down to idle, and back up again before I cut it. Turns out the primary power and signal wire cables for my starter were touching the exhaust manifold, and they melted together and shorted out. I tried starting the truck again (before realizing this was the issue) only to have the starter fuse blow twice. I took a look underneath and this is when I discovered the melted cable. I bought a new positive battery terminal cable and salvaged the adapters for the starter signal wire, soldered a new 14 gauge stranded wire (the same as the original starter signal wire), and wrapped it all together in a new harness with Tesa tape. Once this was all done I tried starting it but only got a click from the starter relay, which in my mind meant the battery was low/dead. I tested the battery with my multimeter and got 11.47 V and proceeded to take it to Autozone where they charged it back up to "100%" and after getting it back home tested it again and got 12.66 V which I thought should be enough to get the starter going but no dice. The relay was swapped out with the spare and I still had the same issue so I'm assuming it isn't an issue with the relay. Then I tested the signal cable that I DIY'd and got a reading of .8 OHM (should be close to 1 OHM I believe) that kept bouncing to 0. I ordered a new multimeter in case the one I have is on its way out, but I don't know of any other issue that could be the problem, other than the cable I made? Would anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

 

Did you replace the starter? Did you solder or crimp the new wires.

 

I replaced the starter and I have the same issue so I don't think it is the starter itself. The DIY signal wire was crimped as my soldering skills are not fantastic, but I tested the connection by giving each end a quick pull to ensure the wires were secure, then put two layers of heat shrink wrap over each connection.

 

Good sometimes solder can cause high resistance. Do a test to see if you are getting 12v or higher AT the starter. Then do a voltage drop test.

 

To check voltage at the starter I'd just tap the positive end of my multimeter to the positive cable and the negative to ground, since the starter doesn't have a positive and negative? And by voltage drop test, you mean to just see if the battery maintains a constant 12V+ voltage at the starter with the key in but engine not on?

 

If the relay is clicking, your problem lies between the relay, and the starter. Verify you actually GET voltage on the trigger wire with the key in the start position.

 

Hey all, thanks for the input and suggestions. I verified I got voltage on the trigger wire and bench tested the starter and everything worked as it should. I put it all back together and onto my engine, tried starting, and it worked without a hitch. My guess is I must've had a bad ground connection when I was testing it earlier as that makes the most sense. Thanks again for the help!

 

Glad ya got it working.