[RavenTBK]

Okay, I'm pissed. I cannot for the life of me figure this one out.

No start condition. Acting like its a dead battery. Just replaced starter with new one. Same deal.

Battery terminals, cleaned, no change, then replaced with new. Which rules them out.

Battery idle @12.8v under load @11.2v...coupled with it passes every load test. Thats ruled out.

Solenoid, same voltages appear on the back of the solenoid, resistance across it is 0 when engaged. Its passing current fine, no abnormal temperature variations, so its ruled out.

Wiring, same voltages appear at the other end of the hot wire thats bolted to the starter, with no abnormal temperature variations to indicate a bad wire. Ruled out.

Starter, well, old one worked fine till this condition appeared. Replaced with new rebuilt unit 5 minutes ago. Exactly the same results..so the starter is 85% ruled out.

So, WTF else is there? :banghead

 

[Brieldo]

What about the ignition switch in the truck?

 

[Jayrus]

Where did you get the starter from?I have installed some for customers that were bad out of the box.Try taking it back to where you got it and see if they can test it for you.Also make sure the block is clean where the starter bolts to.

 

[RavenTBK]

Yeah, maybe I should've mentioned that. The ignition switch within the truck is ruled out, because these tests were performed with a remote pushbutton on the solenoid, and retried with the trusty old screwdriver.

 

[RavenTBK]

Block was cleaned with steel wool when the replacement was put on. Its something that I do do every vehicle I install a starter to.

Old starter, worked fine, then started doing this. When it was brought back to autozone, was tested, tested okay. Replaced anyways. Tested before it left the store, tested good. Bolted it up, exact same thing as the old starter.

 

[built4wheelin]

engine ground strap or starter cable. one of them is bad.

 

[RavenTBK]

Okay okay... I'm a dork. I didnt even think about the ground wire that runs from batt (-) to the block as being an issue. Apparently, the end I could see was still good, but what attached to the block was flawed. Thanks built4wheelin.
:doh:

Since I had the supplies handy, I redid both the hot and ground wires from the battery to their respective endpoints. Trashed the 8ga stock positive lead, and made it 4ga...since thats what I had on hand.

When is too much grounding too much grounding? I have no idea, but I thought what the hell. I ran a short run of 4ga from batt(-) to the alternator topside mounting bolt, and another 4ga from batt(-) to a clean spot on the frame, versus making another hop from the block to the frame, since the condition of that strap is also unknown.

Once I had it finished, and figured out how the serpentine belt went on again, I dont think I've EVER had the damn thing come to life that fast in all the time I've owned it. ....Scary....

But yeah... I'll admit it. I'm stupid. :brownbag

This is what I did

Now that I think of it... my Z car was doing something similar a few weeks back, so I parked it to troubleshoot it later. I think its time to redo that one the same as Horsesh!t... heh. I'll put my bag back on now. :brownbag

 

[Brieldo]

You can never have enough "grounding" in terms of your batteries. The more surface area your ground envelops, the better.

 

[Fireguy50]

My main ground to the frame :thumbup