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starting trouble

treysoucie

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Location
houston TX
alright so i had been driving around all day with no problems and then bam all of a sudden i tried to start my m35a2 and nothing.. just the typical clicking sound. battery's are beyond charged and the starter is fairly new. I had some starting issues previously with the old stater and got the loud clicking noise so i replaced the starter. the clicking im getting now is very faint. Im not sure if it is the starter relay or the starter solonoid. Is there anyway to tell which is bad without taking the starter down?
 

jpekarek

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Vancouver, WA.
One thing to check. The battery cables can become corroded inside of the rubber insulation. That happened to me. I cut back the insulation from the battery connectors a little and it was powdery and blue inside. I cut back an inch or so to expose fresh copper wire and put the connectors back on. Problem was gone and starts better than ever.

Hopefully yours will be that simple.
 

m16ty

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Dickson,TN
Sounds like your relay to me. First check all you connections and make sure they're tight and not corroded. then make sure you have 24v going to the relay from the battery with a volt meter. Then have somebody hit the start button while you check for 24v going to the relay from the start button. If that checks out ok, have somebody hit the start button again and make sure you've got 24v going to the starter from the relay. If you've got 24v into the relay but nothing out, your relay is bad.

If the relay is clicking, then it's more than likely just bad contacts inside the relay. I have taken them apart to clean the contacts and it fixed it.

There are ways to check this by yourself by "crossing out" the relay but it is debatable how safe this is. If you don't know what your doing you can kill yourself or burn yourself badly.
 

airmech3839

Member
842
5
18
Location
Augusta, GA
Sounds like your relay to me. First check all you connections and make sure they're tight and not corroded. then make sure you have 24v going to the relay from the battery with a volt meter. Then have somebody hit the start button while you check for 24v going to the relay from the start button. If that checks out ok, have somebody hit the start button again and make sure you've got 24v going to the starter from the relay. If you've got 24v into the relay but nothing out, your relay is bad.

If the relay is clicking, then it's more than likely just bad contacts inside the relay. I have taken them apart to clean the contacts and it fixed it.

There are ways to check this by yourself by "crossing out" the relay but it is debatable how safe this is. If you don't know what your doing you can kill yourself or burn yourself badly.
:ditto: Or you could die!! If you die that would mean we have one less friend... so don't die!! O.K.!!

Check for corrosion and volts at relay!! that is all I have to say about that!!:mrgreen:
 

rlwm211

Active member
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Location
Guilford, NY
In checking the connections to the relay and the batteries, as well as the starter, disconnect the batteries first. Pull the ground off.

The relay on the block is prone to a lot of vibration and the connections can work loose. This is the solenoid that really does the work of getting your starter to turn over. If the output of this solenoid is loose or corroded, it can not provide adequate power to operate the relay on the starter itself. That contactor is of a very heavy duty design and needs a lot of power to work.

This problem is one that requires a process of elimination and that takes starting from a known point. So, cleaning and tightening all of the connections is necessary to eliminate some or all of them from the troubleshooting process.

First, if you have an Ohm meter, pull the wire connection out of the starter switch and test to see if the switch is actually closing. A click when you push it means either something downstream is not working or else the switch is making a brief contact and then opening its contacts even though you are still holding them shut. Eliminate the switch as part of your process of elimination.

If you have an assistant and a volt meter you can CAREFULLY probe the input signal from the switch in the cab at the block mounted solenoid as well as the output where it goes to the starter itself see if in fact it is doing its job.

Also, I would add that if you have a loose, or bad ground on either the solenoid on the block, or the one on the starter, or the starter itself is loose or the surfaces where the flange touches the block is extremely greasy, that can cause a problem as well.

Hope this helps....

RL
 
Last edited:

Jake0147

Member
782
18
18
Location
Panton, VT
Is there anyway to tell which is bad without taking the starter down?

Yes there is...

Dig out your non-led test light and find a 24 volt bulb for it, find a 24 volt test light, or rig up some wire and a light bulb. Clamp the clip at the post under the hood you would like to test, stuff the light through the windshield, and use the probe to ground at a data plate screw or similar while you're cranking.

When mine was acting silly it was VERY intermittent. (I know you said yours is consistent, perhaps stay with the test light until or unless the problem becomes intermittant). I used a small board with four lights inside the cab, I strang an ugly string of yellow wires to test for starter button power to the starter relay, solenoid power out of the starter relay, battery power at the starter solenoid stud, and cranking power coming out of the starter solenoid stud. Very effective. The relay was "clicking" but not making contact. At the times it acted up, the bulb indicating power from the switch to the relay was weak. PS magazine found my problem, you have to MASH the starter button, and that will not happen. Don't mash the button, and this will eventually happen... No new parts in my case, just a little operator training, but the lights were VERY effective.

I had less than twenty five bucks in that contraption, including alligator clips for all the wires for easy hookup. I have since modified it so that I have two "common" wires, thus I can look for all power, all ground, or two of each. It's at work, and each bulb has it's own color of wire. I use it more often than similar equipment that cost me ten times as much. No soldier B required to run the in-cab controls while you stick your hands in places they shouldn't be with an engine that probably won't, but MIGHT decide to crank again.
 

treysoucie

New member
196
1
0
Location
houston TX
thanks guys! all connections are firm and corrosion free. I replaced all cables when i bought her so im sure that is not the problem. Tommorow i will go back to my storage and start tinkering! I will let you guys know what i dig up
 

Gunner0311

Member
189
2
16
Location
Millington, Michigan
I am going through the same problems. So I have empathy or you....
i took an entire week of from fighting it I was so befuddled by it. I finally found
a nice diagram on another post that shows the wiring, as I thought when I put
the rebuilt starter back in that I somehow got things mixed up(more wire than on
any other starter I have seen). I am taking the diagram out to my truck and check that out right now.:sad:
 

treysoucie

New member
196
1
0
Location
houston TX
care to share the wiring diagram? i have been so dam busy i haven't had 5 minutes to look it over. i want to go out there tonight and check it out.
 
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