Time for new starter solenoid? M816 wrecker

[joestewart]

1980 M816 wrecker with NH250 Cummins and Prestolite starter.

Apologies if this has been asked before. I did a few searches and did not find any posts that contained symptoms like mine.

This wrecker had not been started in a couple of years. The last time I started it, everything worked fine. The other day, I put some batteries in it and tried to start it up. When I move the lever on the dashboard to the "start" position, I can hear a faint click, but nothing else. Starter does not engage or spin, motor does not turn, nothing happens. I noticed that when I move the lever on the dash to the "start" position, the needle on my amp meter pegs to the left, but when I release the lever, the amp gauge needle returns to the central position.

I cleaned all the battery cable contacts, and no change.

Today I removed the starter. The armature spins freely. About 1/8 of a cup of ground up black charcoal-like matrial came out of the opening containing the drive assembly when I turned the starter on end. This may be normal.

I took the cover off of the solenoid. See photos. There is some roughening of the copper coated surfaces. I am unable to pull the plunger back with my fingers, but this may be due to the stiffness of the spring in there.

Question: Do you think that the roughened copper coated surfaces could explain why this starter is not engaging and would this furthermore explain my amp gauge pegging when the lever on dash gets moved to the "start" position?

Do you think a new solenoid would take care of my starting problem?

This wrecker has about 20K miles on it and has seen very little use since I have owned it (I bought it off GL in about 200.

Thank you for any input.

 

[74M35A2]

Solenoid contacts look OK. Does the 809 series use a PCB? Reassemble starter, then you can test the solenoid and motor independently. Check the signal from vehicle to the starter, the starter may be OK. They are built tough, and have a very low duty cycle of usage. Failure is quite rare, especially if the fuel system is kept air tight, and the starter is not used to prime the truck.

 

[Scrounger]

The 800 series has a PCB and they do fail. That solenoid doesn’t look that bad. I would reinstall the solenoid to the starter and reinstall the starter then test a few things. Sometimes just hitting the PCB with a hammer is enough to get it to work. If it does, then replace it. It won’t get any better. Another test is to put a multi-meter on the solenoid and check for voltage when trying to start. If no voltage probably a PCB. If you know someone nearby that has a similar truck it only takes a couple of minutes to swap out a working PCB and see if that solves the problem.

 

[simp5782]

Bad pcb. Jump the starter with a push button remote starter and that will tell you for sure if its a bad solenoid.

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[joestewart]

You mean this thing? Man, I can tell you that I never even noticed it before. OK, I agree, the problem probably lies in the PCB. I'll put the starter back in, and perform the testing recommended. May have to start shopping for one of these PCBs soon. Thanks for all the replies!

 

[simp5782]

You mean this thing? Man, I can tell you that I never even noticed it before. OK, I agree, the problem probably lies in the PCB. I'll put the starter back in, and perform the testing recommended. May have to start shopping for one of these PCBs soon. Thanks for all the replies!

Pcb box can be rebuilt for $40 or so or contact member fuzzytoaster.


Testing is smack it with a hammer and see if it starts. If not. Take the cover off. With a test light find your power in and see if power is getting thru both solenoids with key on engine off

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