Need help with starter issue!
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 79
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis, IN
Need help with starter issue!
Ok guys, lets see if there is anyone here who can help me, cuz I'm stumped. And everyone I know is stumped.
I have a '78 f100, 300 i6, C6 manual tranny. The shift collar broke, and since it is almost impossible to find, I bought an aftermarket floor shifter. On Wednesday, right before I was going to install the shift kit, the clutch went out. I knew this was coming. The truck was parked on a hill, so I needed to move it about 45 feet to level ground. When I turned the key, the starter started to engage, then i heard a pop from underneath the truck and a little smoke rose from the solenoid area. I chalked the wheels and decided to come back the next day.
I came back the next day and removed the starter and took it to autozone to have it tested. The starter did engage in the tester, but made a loud clunking noise. So I bought a new one. I also bought a new solenoid just in case. I went back to the truck, installed the new starter, and since the battery was dead, I had my buddy give me a jump. At first everything was fine. All the lights on the dash worked. I gave it a few minutes and went ahead and tried to start it. The motor turned over, and then smoke once again rose from the solenoid. So needless to say, I swapped out the solenoid. Repeated the jump process, with the same results, except this time it was the jumper cables and the power cable from solenoid to the battery that started smoking. I said screw it. Had it towed to my garage.
Saturday I changed the clutch, fully expecting to find something binding on the flywheel. Nothing binding. Turned the flywheel over a few times to make sure engine wasnt locked up. Put it all back together, checked ground wires, power wires, everthing hooked up right. So we tried to jump it again. Same darn thing happened. The jumper cables started glowing for petes sake. Disconnected the positive wire from the starter, grounded the jumper cables, and put the positive on the starter terminal. Starter engaged.
Ok, so I am totally baffled by what the heck is shorting out the electrical system. Anyone have any ideas??
I have a '78 f100, 300 i6, C6 manual tranny. The shift collar broke, and since it is almost impossible to find, I bought an aftermarket floor shifter. On Wednesday, right before I was going to install the shift kit, the clutch went out. I knew this was coming. The truck was parked on a hill, so I needed to move it about 45 feet to level ground. When I turned the key, the starter started to engage, then i heard a pop from underneath the truck and a little smoke rose from the solenoid area. I chalked the wheels and decided to come back the next day.
I came back the next day and removed the starter and took it to autozone to have it tested. The starter did engage in the tester, but made a loud clunking noise. So I bought a new one. I also bought a new solenoid just in case. I went back to the truck, installed the new starter, and since the battery was dead, I had my buddy give me a jump. At first everything was fine. All the lights on the dash worked. I gave it a few minutes and went ahead and tried to start it. The motor turned over, and then smoke once again rose from the solenoid. So needless to say, I swapped out the solenoid. Repeated the jump process, with the same results, except this time it was the jumper cables and the power cable from solenoid to the battery that started smoking. I said screw it. Had it towed to my garage.
Saturday I changed the clutch, fully expecting to find something binding on the flywheel. Nothing binding. Turned the flywheel over a few times to make sure engine wasnt locked up. Put it all back together, checked ground wires, power wires, everthing hooked up right. So we tried to jump it again. Same darn thing happened. The jumper cables started glowing for petes sake. Disconnected the positive wire from the starter, grounded the jumper cables, and put the positive on the starter terminal. Starter engaged.
Ok, so I am totally baffled by what the heck is shorting out the electrical system. Anyone have any ideas??
Thread Starter
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Junior User
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 79
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis, IN
I'm going to try a new solenoid today when I get off work. But I do know that the battery cable to the solenoid is clear of the frame / body / motor...its not touching anything but the solenoid.
sigh....frustrating....
sigh....frustrating....
