Battery/Starter Problem

[Dipstick]

digger, jeep, o1951 (I'm a 1953 model year myself) you guys pump me up! I found that taking off the air cleaner assembly makes it all easier to get to. ****! I just got finished putting in a new whistler turbo two months ago. Brutus was running sweeter than a brand new Toyota. Was driving him to work two or three times a week and then this. I will get to the bottom of it. Can't stand not getting my daily open windshield facial. I smell an Erik's order coming up. o1951.....heavy duty marine Detroit Diesel start button is on the way. Yes, I should check for a short, but hey I've been up for 25 hours now. Be well my friends and I will keep you informed. Thanks for caring enough to ask and for your suggestions.

 

[cbvet]

For the negative cable end or battery post to have melted, I believe there was a bad connection at that point.
I saw it happen in VietNam. We even had a mold to restore the battery post.

 

[Jeepsinker]

You need to get some sleep bud, 9 out of ten times I overlook something simple because I'm tired.

 

[3rdaavbn]

Sorry you are having trouble. I have new NOS starters if you need one, also a good used one.
Let me know if I can help.

 

[Dipstick]

Jeep you are right about the dumb factor. cbvet, My son an I just finished installing two new 6TLs the previous week. We cleaned, greased, and tightened the terminals. Ran great. I'm doing this in a garden apartment parking lot. So far, my neighbors have been great. They call me GI Joe. I can't abuse the privilege. As I was unplugging my battery charger just now, I ran into Jean on the phone in the basement where the plug is. She was talking on her cell to another neighbor worried about critters getting into the building. I had the basement door propped slightly open for my power cord. I have to be careful. Can't give SS a bad name or lose my parking space. I need my own spread. Sleep now. Thanks again my friends!

 

[cbvet]

Dipstick,
I'm sure there are some who would disagree, but I don't think putting grease on the battery terminals is a good idea.
We found that if a terminal got a "little" loose, it would get warm, & the grease would melt & work it's way between the terminal & post. Causing too much resistance/heat and melting posts.
Not necessarily your problem, just my experience.

 

[Jeepsinker]

I never use grease on battery terminals. Dielectric grease is just that...Dielectric insinuating that it stops current flow between two surfaces. Not what you want on your battery posts. Napa sells battery terminal protectant in an aerosol can. It goes on red kind of like spray paint. Works good and not messy, it's what I use.

 

[Dipstick]

Jeep...I didn't really mean grease per say...it's a clear substance that is supposed to prevent battery terminal corrosion. I got it at Auto Zone. I'll have to get to Napa and check that stuff out. The wiring in my truck wasn't exactly what I was expecting to find while reading the schematic. I may decide to pick up the starter switch power from the master switch and then run a separate wire from the start button to the magnetic starter. Then, next year I may replace the whole wiring harness with Erik's Military Parts harnesses. Funny, my buddy Glenn owns four 900 series 5 tons that are only a few years newer than my truck and he never has these kind of problems.

 

[Jeepsinker]

The clear stuff is exactly what I was talking about. It is dielectric grease and bad stuff for that purpose. I knew what you meant. And just because 5 tons don't have these problems means nothing. Every vehicle will eventually have some wired problem, and I'm inclined to believe that it was caused by something you did. Understand that I mean no offense by that, but have learned through experience that new problems experienced after having done something to a vehicle are usually caused by the person who did the repair unwittingly doing something improperly or forgetting something. I'm sure you've heard of oil change places forgetting to put motor oil back in customer's engines before their departure...

 

[Dipstick]

Ok on the dielectric stuff. The only thing I've done recently is install new batteries and fan belts. Hard to see how that would cause starter/battery problems. I put the cables on properly and read 28.3 volts across the terminals while charging which is good. I think it's just a coincidence that it happened right after the belt change.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Well there was another poster here that said their deuces used to melt cable ends in Vietnam a lot when they got loose or had a bad connection. So much so that they apparently had a mold to recast the cable ends. Maybe like he said you had a bad connection and it caused it to get hot. The dielectric grease alone may have done that. You did say that you just changed the batteries. Lucky your truck didn't burn down. Saw a YouTube video of a guy showing people what happened to his truck when it caught fire. Never said what the cause was though.

 

[Dipstick]

I was only two miles from home when it happened. Pulled the ground terminal off shortly after the wheels stopped rolling. The connections were tight in my case. I was just on a custom battery cable website that advises to snug them down and then one quarter of a turn more for battery terminals. Yeah, a fire would have been absolutely heart breaking. I've put so much hard work and money into my pal Brutus. I have a new starter switch arriving today. It looks like I may miss the Gilbert P.A. show on September 20.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Think you might make the Georgia rally?

 

[Dipstick]

Probably not Jeep. I'm shooting for Rauch's Creek in October. It's only about two hours away and you can do some four wheeling there. There are a few others in N.J. like Turbomustang that will probably be there. We would convoy out together. There's nothing I like better than meeting in person the folks I correspond with on SS.

 

[Jeepsinker]

Yeah I'm trying my best to get set to make it to Georgia this year, just gotta find me a decent truck. No way I would go without some green iron of my own.

 

[Dipstick]

Okay. The new starter is in and works fine. I was relieved to find that my brand new 6TL batteries were still good. I ran a new wire outside the harness from the switch to the top left terminal on the mag starter. Now, after my first test run I find that my right rear axle seal must be leaking. Darn! Sorry I couldn't reduce the pics. I really dislike Windows 8.

 

[brianp454]

Nice work!

Okay. The new starter is in and works fine. I was relieved to find that my brand new 6TL batteries were still good. I ran a new wire outside the harness from the switch to the top left terminal on the mag starter. Now, after my first test run I find that my right rear axle seal must be leaking. Darn! Sorry I couldn't reduce the pics. I really dislike Windows 8.

 

[welldigger]

So did you go back with an o.e.m starter or did you go the gear reduction starter route?

 

[Dipstick]

I guess you'd call it OEM digger. It's a real beauty. You can just see the quality in it's manufacture. Feel it too. It weighs about 70 pounds. Kind of hard on my 60 year old back. It fired Brutus right up. My ring gear looked pretty good when you consider the damage to the starter gear teeth. I was especially pleased with my $15 Lincoln Arc Welding cable crimping tool ordered from Home Depot. Just a couple of smacks with my 4 pound hammer on the tool is all it takes. I got the 1/0 cable from Napa.

 

[welldigger]

Good to hear the damage was minimal. I believe if or rather, when my starter goes I'm going try the gear reduction style. Faster turnover speed and it weighs about 35 pounds. Much easier to manage.

For your electrical needs, deuce or otherwise, you should check out dell city. They have great prices and everything you can imagine.

Unfortunately for me, I fear an IP rebuild is coming in the near future. Along with 6 new injector lines at $45 a piece. Ah, the joys of debugging a 40 year old truck that I'm certain was pampered and babied in its former life.