i was curious if it would hurt anything to make batteries a 24 volt to get truck started when it barley turns over, and then when started to switch them back, you know things like will it hurt the glow plugs beings they run off of resistance, and, what about the fuel shut off solinoid, and when doing this make sure all accesories are off even the lights. would this harm anything, someone told me that is what he would do if he were me, but he is no mechanic and knows notin about diesels, so i thought i would ask just for curiosity.

 

The White Freightliner big trucks used to do that with something called a series parallel switch back in the early 70's. You do not wanna know how much they cost though, if you could even find one anymore.

Have you had your batteries load tested?
If you have did, they test them in the truck?
Did they unhook one of the grounds before they did it?

If they tested the batteries with all the wiring hooked up, go back to where you had them tested and make them unhook one of the ground wires before they test the batteries.

A good battery will mask a bad battery with all the wires hooked up. With one of the ground wires unhooked they are testing each battery individually and if one is weak it will show up. Then replace the bad battery and your slow starter should go away.

rancherman84 just went through this and thought he had good batteries, when he unhooked the wires he had two bad batteries. Two new batteries and he was smiling again.

 

This sort of thing has been done on older trucks but the real solution if you don't already have one is to get a Mitsubishi starter. You probably have a Delco starter and like any GM related product they are no good. It would be possible to get it to start on 24v but it would be a wiring nightmare to make all this happen. Also check the usual, battery connections, wires, battery condition.

Birken

 

i have a load tester and did unkook cabels, they are both good, as they are less that 6 months ol and are 950 cca, i have a mitibishi starter but i think it is weak, i just put it in a couple days ago, it was too cold to try to get that bolt so i just changed the starter motor beins i had a used starter anyway that i was puttin in. i tore the old starter apart and man everything was all scratched up on the armiture where burshs ride, and brushes were about 1/16-1/8 inch of the end of their travel of usage. i was just curious about 24 volt start.

 

it was 14 below this morning, truck was plugged in all night, went out there barley turned over so no start, hooked another batt with jumper cabels in series (12v) and it took right off and started with little cranking, i jumped off pass. side batt. could this mean that starter is weak and did not have enough juice to turn it over.

 

did you check amps when you load tested them?my passenger side batt had 8 volts and 0 amps and the drivers side had 12 volts and about 200 amps.was the spare starter any good?claas choppers still use series parallel switch.24 volt start and all other elecs are 12 volt.they use two batts also,about twice the size of the ones in your truck. man you should see 24 volts roll over a 16 liter V-8 diesel rated at 505 hp.

 

the spare starter seems to turn it over alot better. but i just got done today talking to someone that is putting a new starter in his truck and the problem with his is the solinoid is not keeping the bendix engaged but the motor is good and less than a year old he said that he would give it to me as long as i give him my junk one to send in for his core, the other thing is was this mourning the truck was plugged in all night and it would not hardly tun ove and i jumped it it started and has not had any other probbles like that all day, do ya think the connections were bad on the first start?

 

But what i was wondering is if 24 volt starting will hurt any other accessory like fuel solinoid or glow plugs?

 

It won't hurt anything if you wire it up right.

Didn't JC whitney sell a kit for this a while back?? Most older tractors are rigged up like that- or started like that (using 12 volts instead of 6 etc)

Unfortunately, like someone else mentioned, the wiring can be tricky and its one of those things, if you have to ask it is not something you want to learn about on the side of the road when it fails and then you will be unable to troubleshoot it.

It can be done, and if it is done right, won't hurt anything, to answer your question.

 

You could go to a parts house and get a series-parallel switch. If you get it wired up right the other stuff would still work on 12v. The starter would be really easy to fry though. You'd have to cut your cranking time down and hope you drive gear could handle the torque.

 

i was told that the starter has no worry, because amps fry them not the volts. and with more volts that it needs less amps. i am very mechaniclly incline sothis dosen't woory me about side of the road, i always have tools in the truck, it is used mainly on the farm anyway. i like the opinions keep them comming please. thank you all very much.

 

The more volts you push into a given device, the more amps it will draw...think of water pressure. The higher the pressure on a given hole the more water will flow through. The starter will probably survive 24 volts for a while but its life will definitely be shortened. Additionally it will be turning with more force and speed which will tend to wear out mechanical parts. These starters work great when in good condition, I would suggest finding the root of the problem.

Birken

 

ok thank you all for your input, i was just curious.