What did I do to knock out power to the starter?

[Payback]

I recently had to address this no lights issue and found this 30 amp was the cause. fuse melted and the fuse box is only slightly melted at the terminals where the fuse sets in. Not sure what the reason was but I changed out the fuse, straightened up some hanging wiring under the dash, then went on to work on the exhaust.
At the end of the day, I go to pull it out of the shop and nothing...????
Turn the key, glow plugs warm up, wait light goes out, and when I hit the ignition, I hear a click under the dash but the nothing to the starter. Don't hear anything at the starter.

What could I have hit, bumped, that would cause this? Truck always starts like a champ.

Also, curious about the large relay circled with the 30 amp fuse I replaced, What's it for??
All advice is appreciated. Thanks





https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threa...horn-brake-lights-or-black-out-lights.221878/

 

[WWRD99]

I recently had to address this no lights issue and found this 30 amp was the cause. fuse melted and the fuse box is only slightly melted at the terminals where the fuse sets in. Not sure what the reason was but I changed out the fuse, straightened up some hanging wiring under the dash, then went on to work on the exhaust.
At the end of the day, I go to pull it out of the shop and nothing...????
Turn the key, glow plugs warm up, wait light goes out, and when I hit the ignition, I hear a click under the dash but the nothing to the starter. Don't hear anything at the starter.

What could I have hit, bumped, that would cause this? Truck always starts like a champ.

Also, curious about the large relay circled with the 30 amp fuse I replaced, What's it for??
All advice is appreciated. Thanks





https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threa...horn-brake-lights-or-black-out-lights.221878/

That box hanging out of the fuses is not stock plus the wire tagged under the light fuse. No idea what's going on there you'll have to figure out what that is. The starter relay is under the dash to the left where the radio should be. It may be bad...you can unplug it and jump the 2 big wires at the furthest opposite ends and see if the starter engages. If not you'll need to check the volts at that relay to see what is going on.

 

[Barrman]

As written about above the starter relay is basically above your right foot when it is on the throttle. If that is where the clicking is coming from then also follow the directions above to verify you have 24 volts going to the relay and 24 volts going away from it when the key is turned. The clicking indicates the 12 volt side is working properly.

The 24 volt signal to the starter solenoid from the starter relay goes through the firewall bulkhead plug behind the fuse panel. If the starter relay is functioning and has voltage going out. The easiest route is for you to check for 24 volts on the S terminal of the starter while someone else turns the key. I*f you get 24 volts there, pulling the starter is next. If no 24 volts at the S terminal then the bulkhead plug should be pulled apart and looked at next.

 

[royalflush55]

Load test both batteries to make sure they are good!

 

[Payback]

So, it was the harness connection next to the starter solenoid. I must have hit this harness and disconnected it while I was under there. Plugged it back together and it fired right up. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. There's a bunch of disconnected plugs under the dash so I wouldn't have noticed that it was that simple.
As for the odd relay, I'll swap that out for a 25-amp shown in the diagram. That explanation of what fuse was for what was helpful to confirm if things are right.
The yellow wire runs all the way to the back of the truck somewhere but never investigated it. It's got a good 15-amp fuse in it and it never gave me concern to go looking, now I'm going looking. Thanks!!