Starter/wiring question

[jada64]

I changed the starter in my truck about a week ago. It had an old mitsu unit in it that died. I put in the new nippon denso style one that many refer to as a high torque starter. Before I did that, I changed out my positive battery cable for one I made, solid copper lugs, soldered and crimped, marine style terminals, and quality car audio 0 gauge wire is what I used. However I only did the positive cable because the grounds were in good shape. Also put in two new interstate megatron batteries a few months ago.

So lately my truck hasnt been running due to needing to replace glow plugs and a bad block heater cord. (-10F or lower everyday)

I get home today and decide to try and get her to start, had it on the battery charger all night, its 22 out and I have ether, GPs are manually controlled so no issues there. I give it a shot and start cranking it over and noticed a burning smell, its the pos starter lug glowing red. Is this the bad ground causing the starter to draw more current and frying itself? I have a lifetime warrenty on the starter so swapping it is no big deal Should I just change my grounds to some nice 0G and put new terminals on along with a starter replacement? Or is there another issue?

 

[fsmyth]

Sounds like a bad crimp.
High-current crimps take a lot of pressure. Like a 5-lb hammer.
And it needs to be clean. And tight.
Solder is good, but will not make up for a loose crimp.
Your symptoms may also show up when the contactor inside the solenoid
becomes worn or dirty.
Grounds are almost certainly not the problem, unless they are as above.
Try to get the other problems fixed so the starter does not need to run as much.

<als>

 

[jada64]

I have 0G laying around and new terminals so I am going to fix the grounds for sure. I wouldn't think it a dirty solenoid because It hasn't even had a chance to get dirty, unless its bad. I know I need to change at least one terminal, its corroded.

However there was a length of factory battery cable I did not change out, and its the one to the starter. It wasnt showing any signs of corrosion so I just put a lug on the fresh cut end. This could also be my problem could it not? Also, does that large red wire that runs off the positive on the drivers side just goto the starter? I was unable to see the routing of it when I did the battery cables.

 

[theguruat12]

I'd be wary of using 0 gauge. Factoury had 2/0 as the crossover between the batteries, and 3/0 from the passenger's side battery to the start. Might have just been being safe but you should keep an eye on those cables if you are cranking to purge air or anything.

 

[fsmyth]

You are right. I missed the AWG-0 in the OP's post.
0 is only good for a max of 245A (chassis) and 150A cont.
Need at least 000 (320A max chassis).
You could add another AWG-0 cable to the one already on the starter.
Or two.
A bad starter can draw over 500A after it gets hot.
3/0 is not at all out of line here.
Go to a welding shop. Tell them you want some really short welding leads.
<als>

Edit: AWG-0 is good enough for a quick-starting truck with a good starter, IMO.
Barely.

 

[theguruat12]

Also try custombatterycables.com. They have lots if cool stuff


Sent from my cyborg implant

 

[turbo elk]

Do not use welding cables.. I did and they lasted about 2 years... the insulation was starting to droop and sag... they don't hold up to oil and diesel being on them...get good battery cables in 2/0 and 3/0

 

[franklin2]

Where the wire is glowing red is your problem. Like someone else said, probably that lug right there where it's glowing red. It's glowing red because there is a lot of heat being generated in that one area. The heat is being generated because there is a lot of resistance, all that current flowing through the resistance is causing the heat. It's probably not cranking very fast either is it?

 

[fsmyth]

Do not use welding cables.. I did and they lasted about 2 years... the insulation was starting to droop and sag... they don't hold up to oil and diesel being on them...get good battery cables in 2/0 and 3/0

Not trying to start anything here, but I have been using the stuff for 30 years.
Works fine for me. (and easy to get - I just cut a few feet off my welder's leads).
And just about every truck had an auxiliary battery added. Even some of the cars.
I admit, it probably is not good advice for folks that do not keep their rigs clean,
or have a clue on how to route wiring.
I actually now use DLO cable, which has better insulation, but it may be hard to find everywhere.
<als>

 

[theguruat12]

Welding cable WILL work. That being said, I would not use it, or recommend using it if you can get your hands on the correct cable. The BEST stuff to use is SGX battery cable. It's the big brother of SGT battery cable, which uses a thick, oil-resistant, self-extinguishing PVC insulation. SGX uses an even heavier-duty, thicker insulation. Think of it as SOOW vs SJOOW, for any of you that use heavy-duty 120VAC power cables.

 

[Ruger_556]

I don't recommend soldering your battery cable ends... A good crimp is all that's needed. Solder gains you nothing and can cause problems down the road. Next why did you use car audio cable? That's not a heavy enough gauge anyway

 

[theguruat12]

Just since you mentioned car audio cable...do you mean OFC? (Oxygen Free Copper) Just so everybody knows, there is ZERO benefit to using OFC. It has exactly the same conductance as normal smelted copper (NOT copper clad aluminum, steer away from that *****). It's just a way for stereo shops to jack prices up.

 

[fsmyth]

Welding cable WILL work. That being said, I would not use it, or recommend using it if you can get your hands on the correct cable. The BEST stuff to use is SGX battery cable. It's the big brother of SGT battery cable, which uses a thick, oil-resistant, self-extinguishing PVC insulation. SGX uses an even heavier-duty, thicker insulation. Think of it as SOOW vs SJOOW, for any of you that use heavy-duty 120VAC power cables.

Agreed. And think of DLO as SOOW on massive steriods (2000V insulation instead of 600V).
If welding cable insulation bothers you, run it thru 3/4" fuel line.
The whole point was to use fine-strand cable, so it would crimp easier.
<als>

 

[theguruat12]

Agreed. And think of DLO as SOOW on massive steriods (2000V insulation instead of 600V).
If welding cable insulation bothers you, run it thru 3/4" fuel line.
The whole point was to use fine-strand cable, so it would crimp easier.
<als>

Agreed. I like the finer strands a lot better for working, they solder and crimp MUCH better.

 

[BDOGONE]

+1 Resistance = heat
Problem is where the heat is!
Use an inferred temp. gun to diag.

Electricity travels on the surface of the copper strands. More strands is more better! Probably a practical limit at some point.


Sent by wing, prayer & ATT