2015 3500 CC Aisin

[DonFitzwater]

It does sounds like an aborted start with that statement. If the starter received power to snap then it was drawing current, the snap also means that it at least spun a little bit to engage the bendix.
So I'd be looking for something else other than moisture in the starter.

There isnt much I can do until it decides to act up again. Grounds are clean as are all connections. I'll post more if it acts up and I can troubleshoot further.

 

[SnoKing]

There isnt much I can do until it decides to act up again. Grounds are clean as are all connections. I'll post more if it acts up and I can troubleshoot further.

So to understand what you are saying, there was voltage to the starter solenoid pick lead and the starter was not turning when you measure voltage right on the starter solenoid small terminal?

 

[DonFitzwater]

I had a voltage meter clamped to the end of the main battery cable connected to the starter (large gauge) and back probed the smaller trigger wire with a snap-on test light with voltage indicator and had him hit crank. Voltage was present on both during cranking and after several seconds the trigger wire de-energized. The main battery cable showed battery voltage and only dropped a few tenths of a volt when cranked. This and the behavior of the truck lights not dimming while attempting to crank were my indicator something inside the starter contacts aren’t bridging the gap or were otherwise blocked in some way.

I’m fairly sure the solenoid was energizing and closing, just not making contact. That’s the best guess I can come up with at the moment.

 

[Newsa]

My understanding of battery saver mode is that it works in stages shutting down first less essential functions and then at another stage high current draw functions. So the trigger wire might be different than the main power to solenoid/starter because of the current.

 

[AH64ID]

A few tenths means it was drawing voltage, if it wasn't drawing anything there wouldn't have been a voltage drop.

So that, combined with the snap, tells me that the starter got voltage, spun a little, and was stopped by something else. But what is the question...

 

[SnoKing]

Digital meters are not to best for trouble shooting things like this, as they are slower to react. An old style analog meter is much better in indicating a quick voltage drop. But several seconds? Who knows. I had quite a few abort starts as my OEM batteries were aging out, and even one with the replacement batteries a couple months after installing them. The push button starts trucks like mine I believe have a lot of programming monitoring the start process. I do not know about the key start trucks, however this sounds similar.

 

[DonFitzwater]

A few tenths means it was drawing voltage, if it wasn't drawing anything there wouldn't have been a voltage drop.

So that, combined with the snap, tells me that the starter got voltage, spun a little, and was stopped by something else. But what is the question...

My guess is the small amount of voltage drop I saw was most likely what was being consumed by the solenoids operation.

I'll also add this; the owner loves to auto start the truck and since this truck has recently become ill with def codes and check engine lights it does start up with almost immediate shut down and then shows remote start disabled. Neither time when we were troubleshooting did we use the remote start feature. We also received no def warnings until the day after we thawed the truck out.

 

[AH64ID]

A few tenths of a volt on a dual 12 V battery system is more then the amperage from the solenoid.

 

[DonFitzwater]

A few tenths of a volt on a dual 12 V battery system is more then the amperage from the solenoid.

Maybe so but not much I can do until this thing acts up again. I really hate intermittent failures but hey, if it were easy everybody would want to be a mechanic.

 

[SnoKing]

Maybe so but not much I can do until this thing acts up again. I really hate intermittent failures but hey, if it were easy everybody would want to be a mechanic.

Next time use a analog meter or one that will hold on lowest voltage.

 

[Ozymandias]

The push button starts trucks like mine I believe have a lot of programming monitoring the start process. I do not know about the key start trucks, however this sounds similar.

They work the same, you can just bump the key to start and release it, it will accomplish the start by itself.
Found that by accident. No need to keep the key on start till the engine really runs.