What fried??...Starter or Solenoid

[COBRAJET]

Well... I finally got out today and attacked the hillbilly exhaust system on my truck. In the process of taking the pipe off at the manifold it fell onto the battery side post on the top of the starter. I marveled at the cheap arc welder for a second or two before retrieving it. After getting all the gaskets and pipes replaced I went to start it and listen to my work. All I got was a loud thunk...no start. The battery gauge goes to 0 from 24-25 when I hit the go button. Just a loud noise. I was able to pull start it with the F350. It started fine, charges fine...28 volts, and runs great...NO leaks or noise. I now need to fix the electrical boo boo....Any ideas on which expensive part I took out. Thanks in advance!!

 

[rdixiemiller]

You may have fried a battery. Sounds like you don't have enough juice to engage the starter solenoid all the way. Have you checked all your connections on the batteries?

 

[JohnnyReb]

I agree with the colonel; you probably burned up a battery which is the lesser of the evils. Can you jump start it? Recommend getting a cheap battery tester and checking the cells before ordering expensive parts..

 

[COBRAJET]

I checked the connections and they are fine. I am reading 12.8 volts on each and am getting 25.4 to the starter. I will try and crank it while reading each battery and see if one or the other is dropping out. I though I heard some noise back there when it happened. After I try to start it the volt gauge falls down to around 22. I will go through it all and double check everything. I got two good batteries in the F350 that would love to give it a try.

 

[rdixiemiller]

If your volt meter shows a drop down to 22 Volts, you have a bad battery. You can take the batteries to an Autozone, or Advance Auto Parts and they will load test them for you. More than likely, one of them has a weak cell. This is the lesser of the evils by any standard, batteries are easy to find. It just depends what type you get. There were several good threads a while back on the merits of the various battery types that are available.

 

[COBRAJET]

Well...one of the batteries shorted. I installed two blue top Optimas in the tray with a little bit of 2X10 for a perfect fit. The batteries are $109.00 each at the local Sam's Warehouse. They are plenty strong and do not mind not being charged regularly. I have had one for 4 years on a trailer with a winch that is not used often. The batterry is always ready to go and gets charged about twice a year.

 

[JohnnyReb]

Glad to hear it was no more serious than a battery; good reason to upgrade to the optimas. Keep us informed on how the optimas perform, I have heard both good and bad stories when used in commercial or heavy load applications.