Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Electrical Help, Please!

[holmanrd]

Hello again to all you CTD owners out there. I have a problem that I just can’t figure out, so I must defer to the professionals.



Went out to take my daughter to school and both batteries were dead. Cleaned all the terminals and connections and nothing, put it on the charger and when I tried to start her I saw smoke from under the hood. After about an hour of searching wiring diagrams and under the hood I found the fuse-able link to the fuel shut down relay fried. (This happened before about a year ago, back then I replaced the relay before I found the fuse-able link burnt. ) After I replaced the fuse-able link it has worked fine until now.



I don’t know a lot about the internal workings of the fuel shut down solenoid or much electrical for that matter. I know the fuel shut down solenoid has a bunch of coils in it, so could there be a short in the solenoid itself that only shorts out at such a wide variance of times? I would think that if a short was the case, it would be constant and not just hit and miss.



Thanks in advance for the help anyone has to offer.

 

[redram]

My guess is worn starter contacts that are allowing the starter motor to stay engaged too long (after the engine starts),or it could be a weak relay, or a dirty shut down solenoid. The fusible link is there to keep from burning down the truck. You've been luck so far.

 

[holmanrd]

redram,

Thanks for the fast reply. I will drop the starter and the solenoid and check them when I get off work. I will let you all know what I find, maybe it can save someone time or headache in the future. Thanks again.

 

[SEmerson]

There are aftermarket contacts for the starter that would be good to replace with. And It will save you alot of money too.

 

[holmanrd]

SEmerson, thanks for the idea. There is a pretty descent diesel shop I can get the parts from here in town. I'm almost off work so I will know more real soon. thanks

 

[CarlJensen]

Foster Truck sells the contact and plunger set. They have a link on this site in the links list.