Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Procrastination can be expensive!

[Howard Durand]

Last friday the starter stuck, drove about a mile before the fuel solenoid exploded. The starter really got hot and smoky but still turns the engine over.

I may be able to clean it up and use it.

The shutdown relay is OK but I probably won't use it. The fusible link got hot but is still intact. I assume that it is there to protect something but I haven't figured out just what it is protecting. It will go away too.



The tow truck operator wanted to take it to the local dealer but I declined.

DC designed this abortion, I see no reason to reward them for it.



The point of this is that there was no warning whatsoever other than knowing the truck has over 100k miles on it and the starter should have been inspected.

There was no clicking or any other indication that trouble was brewing.

I even have a set of new contacts in the tool box that I am going to put in someday.

 

[Niki]

Yeah, this happened to me in my 95 a few years ago. Make sure you check Cummins and Dodge for shutdown solenoid prices, Dodge wanted $410, Cummins, $270. I also found it interesting that the new solenoid has much heavier guage wires and the solenoid itself was so much larger they gave me a new bracket to mount it on. Should have been a recall, along w/ the broken throttle cable I had to eat...

 

[tp0d]

wow that sucks. . good thing it didnt cause any other damage from the heat (fire) . hope it didnt fry the starter. i`d check the plunger that activates the contacts for wear, mebe it stuck.



I did my larryb conversion a month after I bought the truck, was painless. Get yourself a long 10mm box wrench and its cake. (as opposed to the 4-6" wrenches, craftsman had a 12" one with an offset, much easier)



ebay has some reasonable prices on new 'noids. heres a linky for ya



http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...m=R8&satitle=dodge+diesel+solenoid&category0=



might want to replace the noid relay at the same time too. . mebe someone here has an extra noid and or relay for cheap... 190$ is pricey for a small part



good luck



-j



edit---



ohya and a new starter for 133$... only has 2hrs left on it tho

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994...ewItemQQcategoryZ33576QQitemZ8039393269QQrdZ1



rebuilt 75$

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/5-9-...ewItemQQcategoryZ33576QQitemZ8040987769QQrdZ1

 

[Got Smoke?]

www.PiersDiesel.com has solenoids for $150!

 

[Howard Durand]

The starter is toast. It is full of black stuff and stinks awful.

New starter and solenoid are on the way from Piers. Best prices I could find from anyone I trust.

When I get through installing the new parts, along with a few modifications, it will not be possible for this to happen again.