Hi,

I have a 2001 7.3l diesel in an F350 super duty. Last week I went to start him up and just got a kachunnnnnnnggggg. That was all he would do. Just kachunnnngg. So I played around with some stuff and decided I had a bad starter.

I took it to Oreilly's and they tested it. They said it failed the test and that the part that launches out and connects with the flex plate to start the motor wasn't extending.

So I bought their replacement. Another two bolt model but my original starter was snub nosed and this one kind of juts out more.

Anyway, I bolted it on and connected the wiring. When I reconnected the battery terminals the starter juiced up and started spinning. I took it back to oreilly and they said the replacement stater was bad because it sounded "grindy."

So they gave me another one, same model, I took it home, bolted it on, reconnected battery terminals and the same thing happens. It engages and sounds grindy like the other one.

Is grindy an actual thing? I know that my original starter didn't try to engage until I turned the key and actually tried to crank it. These oreilly ones don't seem to like my main power connection terminal. It seems to actually want to sit on the shorter post that has the black wire that goes into the start itself.

This is the replacement starter itself.

Ultima 03-3716 - Starter | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Am I really getting multiple bad starters or is this some kind of weird cable issue? Or did all this screwing around somehow nuke my upper starter solenoid that attaches to the fender?

What is going on??

 

You're options are that


1. The Solenoid Wiring is incorrect. Or,


2. There is a Short to Ground in the Circuit.


Other than engaging the Key in the START position, the Stater should not "Juice Up".

 

As far as the upper solenoid wiring I never touched any of that. That is all the same as it was before I took off the original starter.

As far as the lower solenoid attached to the starter the wiring there is pretty clear. There are three total posts. Two large posts with a 17mm nut, the upper of which is longer than the lower. Upper relative to being installed and bolted on. There is a smaller post to the side which has a 10mm nut on it and that one is for the smaller ignition connection that piggy backs on the main power connection.

Currently the main power is connected to the upper post and the ignition wire is connected to the smaller post. What is the point of the lower 17mm post? It has a wire bolted to it that goes inside the starter? What would happen if I connected the main power there?

Would grounding out be a condition in the which power connection when bolted onto the top post seems to touch the lower post?

Should I yank it around and beat it up to sit on that post differently because that is what will be required to make it ride there without touching the lower post. What if I shimmed it up further by putting some washes on something there? If it rode higher up then it wouldn't touch the lower 17mm post.

Could it be the ignition wire grounding out? Would there be a different in one or the other grounding? I guess the smaller wire wouldn't spin the starter?

 

Are you saying that it engages right away after hooking up the positive and negative wires and without turning the key to start? You could use a multi-meter and check for constant voltage to the starter, even with just the wires.

 

Did you core the original starter?

 

Right, the moment I reconnect the battery terminals the starter makes racket and spins. I get a pretty good arc too.

How would I do this check with a multi-meter? I have one but I'm kind of new to using it.

 

Yeah... I'm really regretting that now.

 

Exactly. No key. No turning of it. The key is sitting on the seat.

 

Below is a quick video on how to use a multi-meter, but probably won't be specific enough to the model you have. What I would suggest is that you check the voltage across the battery with the multi-meter to make sure you are using volts DC up to ~20. Put the red lead on the + and the black lead on the -. You should be reading about 12 volts from the battery. Now you know that you are using the multi-meter properly.

Grab a friend that is familiar with hooking up the battery and go under the truck ensuring that the battery is disconnected and the wires for the starter are NOT touching anything. Put the leads on the starter wires and have your friend hook up the battery for just a short time in order for you to test for voltage. My guess is as soon as the battery supplies power to the wires there will be voltage there even though there is not supposed to be.

You can attempt this by yourself, but you must be very careful and ensure that the starter wires are isolated and they are not touching each other or anything else before hooking up the battery.

If you are getting voltage to the starter without turning the key, I would work my way back along the wires to the starter and find the problem. My guess is that the solenoid is bad, but that is just a guess.

 

Thanks! Btw when you say the solenoid is bad you mean the upper one in the fender?

 

Yes, that is what I was thinking when typing out the last response. Just be careful while testing for the problem. I would hate for you to get bit by the batteries. Another good reason why a friend should help out if possible.

 

Just to be clear to begin this process have the starter main power lead disconnected from the starter and hanging loose. Add power via connecting battery. Then use volt meter set to check for 12 volt range 20 touching positive lead to main power connection and negative lead to ground? Like on the chasis some place or would that weld/blow a fuse?

 

The lower post is the output of the main solenoid to the starter motor.

The starter motor would run, and stay running.

If the main cable is touching both posts, that's your whole problem.

 

The main power connection is bent at a 90 degree angle like a person sitting. Basically the "butt" of the connection is landing on the lower post.

Could I possibly just shim this up? It is a lower post on the bottom and the clearance is almost right but not exactly. If there was another nut or something on the top post for the main power connection to stand on then the butt of the main power connection would be "hovering" over the lower post but not touching.

Also on the top post at the bottom is another nut anyway. Maybe I could ratchet that one up and little bit and get the clearance I need that way? Does any of that make sense? Sorry if those are dumb questions.

 

Don't back the second nut off, it secures the post to the solenoid. You can add another nut if that will give you the clearance you need. Is the lug stock, or has it (or the entire cable) been replaced?