Starter wire not adding up pls help

[qbubuu]

I am super desperate. Literally never post on forums but I've looked far and wide for a logical solution and wasted plenty of time and energy trying to get this starter working. I'm on a long trip and I parked and the van wouldn't start. There was a grinding in the starter that led me to believe something was spinning but wasn't catching. I removed it and was pleasantly surprised to see only two wires of different sizes to reconnect. Hard to mess that up. I plug everything in on a brand new one how i remember it being on the old one and when I went to plug the battery back there were a lot of sparks and smoke. I looked again and i saw a third much thicker black wire with a metal connector similar to the larger wire i already connected. It has a piece of metal jutting out of it on one side. I put that wire on top of the main positive one and no sparks but also no start. I am losing my mind. Will post pics soon. Please help.

[TurnNburn]

Didya give ol' google a clickaroo?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NzWgqEGfD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBJq9tSB_4

https://www.diyforums.net/how-many-star ... 37088.html

[MechBob]

You screwed up.The big wire,with the "locating lug" is the battery wire.Depending on how long you let the battery hooked up,you may have fried several things.Without more information,I do not think we can help you.

[qbubuu]

Didya give ol' google a clickaroo?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NzWgqEGfD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBJq9tSB_4

https://www.diyforums.net/how-many-star ... 37088.html

I've been on google for three days and didn't see the last two. I honestly havent seen anyone with the third black wire until then. Based on the diagram am I understanding correctly that the large black wire and the second largest wire are to be screwed on the same thing. Does the black wire have to be facing the same direction as in the diagram?

[qbubuu]

You screwed up.The big wire,with the "locating lug" is the battery wire.Depending on how long you let the battery hooked up,you may have fried several things.Without more information,I do not think we can help you.

I didn't have it on there long. I currently have the black wire underneath the second largest wire and there is no spark but also no start.

[MechBob]

The wire with the piece jutting out to the side is the battery wire.The other wire,on the big lug,feeds power to the van.The much smaller wire is the activation circuit ,to engage the starter.When you removed the starter,you probably pushed the battery wire out of the way,then forgot it.You probably have burned up a fuse able link.

[Big_kid]

^^ What Bob said.

[qbubuu]

The wire with the piece jutting out to the side is the battery wire.The other wire,on the big lug,feeds power to the van.The much smaller wire is the activation circuit ,to engage the starter.When you removed the starter,you probably pushed the battery wire out of the way,then forgot it.You probably have burned up a fuse able link.

Well what makes you think that? It only sparked for a moment. So the battery wire goes on top of the other wire. Does the piece jutting out have to be touching something specific or be in a specific position?

[qbubuu]

^^ What Bob said.

How would i know for sure?

[TBLBill]

You'll only know for sure if you wire everything correctly and try it, or test the wire with a multimeter to see if you burned up a fusible link. After my frame swap I mixed up two starter wires; I didn't have sparks, but the alternator wasn't charging the battery. There's a fusible link in the thick wire that goes from the starter to the alternator that may have been burned up.
Try connecting everything properly and see what works and what doesn't. The loops on each of the wires connecting to the starter should fit in their studs pretty closely, so you should be able to easily tell which wires go to which posts.

[qbubuu]

You'll only know for sure if you wire everything correctly and try it, or test the wire with a multimeter to see if you burned up a fusible link. After my frame swap I mixed up two starter wires; I didn't have sparks, but the alternator wasn't charging the battery. There's a fusible link in the thick wire that goes from the starter to the alternator that may have been burned up.
Try connecting everything properly and see what works and what doesn't. The loops on each of the wires connecting to the starter should fit in their studs pretty closely, so you should be able to easily tell which wires go to which posts.

What should i expect to pay a mechanic worst case?

[MechBob]

The wire with the piece jutting out to the side is the battery wire.The other wire,on the big lug,feeds power to the van.The much smaller wire is the activation circuit ,to engage the starter.When you removed the starter,you probably pushed the battery wire out of the way,then forgot it.You probably have burned up a fuse able link.

Well what makes you think that? It only sparked for a moment. So the battery wire goes on top of the other wire. Does the piece jutting out have to be touching something specific or be in a specific position?

There is no "thinking".The "lug" the location metal.that locates the main power wire,to the starter solenoid,is made this way for a reason,so,if i it comes loose,or,if installed wrong,it does not short out and cause a car fire.The power comes from this main wire.You screwed up.There are many things you may have burned out/ruined.Price should not be a factor to you,to get your truck running.

[TurnNburn]

You'll only know for sure if you wire everything correctly and try it, or test the wire with a multimeter to see if you burned up a fusible link. After my frame swap I mixed up two starter wires; I didn't have sparks, but the alternator wasn't charging the battery. There's a fusible link in the thick wire that goes from the starter to the alternator that may have been burned up.
Try connecting everything properly and see what works and what doesn't. The loops on each of the wires connecting to the starter should fit in their studs pretty closely, so you should be able to easily tell which wires go to which posts.

All of this

[TBLBill]

Price from a mechanic depends on what went wrong. If you just burned the fusible link, you'll need to replace the wire from the starter that feeds the alternator, which shouldn't be much more than an hour in the shop. There's always a chance that something else got fried though - alternator, battery, starter, starter relay circuit and other connecting parts. Don't freak out at the chances, just realize the possibility.

Now that the van isn't starting, does the starter crank or not? From your post it seems to me that you just didn't connect the power wire, so it arced between the starter and the wire, making sparks and causing something down there to smoke. If the starter isn't cranking, then you may have burned out the starter or some of the electrical parts going to it.

[AstroWill]

I think you should take a deep breath and slow down a bit. While you had the starter out, did you have it tested? Have you had your battery tested?


There is only 1 large lug and 1 small lug on the starter solenoid that you need to be concerned with when replacing the starter. The smaller diameter wire is the 'starter enable wire' and has a small sized ring terminal on it, it goes to the smallest lug on the solenoid. The next two larger wires, one that goes to the battery and one that goes up to the alternator, have larger ring terminals and both go to the larger lug on the starter solenoid that doesn't go directly to the starter motor. Have a look HERE and make sure your wiring is correct.

If your wiring is correct, everything should be working unless something else has failed. Once you are positive that your wiring is correct, if it still doesn't work, we can do some more testing with a meter to find out where the problem is.

If you burned the fusible link that goes up to the alternator, it won't charge, but that won't affect starting, and you can simply replace the fusible link. But first of all, ensure that your wiring is correct, connections clean and tightened properly and that your battery is good/charged.



If all of that is checked, then you will want to get a meter and check for voltage at the battery terminals, at the battery cable where it connects to the starter solenoid, at the starter enable terminal on the solenoid when the key is turned to start, etc etc. Once the engine is running again, check to make sure that the alternator is charging the battery.

[sixsix]

Really...

All these cameras - everybody has a flash phone camera.
No Pics though.

A photo before you started would be good - now you can shoot a couple.

People take photos of the dessert they had 2 weeks ago and their new underwear in the bathroom every hour.

No pics of your Starter, Battery or Fusible Link in this anxious situation??
It is my understanding - " you came here " and these guys speak from experience and time and Money !!
Questions?



Mike

[markmitch]

You can go to auto parts store buy a section of the fuse able link wire add it to this: https://www.ebay.com/p/Soundbox-Connect ... 66695144to buy some ends and replace the fuse able link and wire.
What you need is a fusible link that is 5.0 square mm in cross section, rated for 50 amps, about 6 inches long, unwrapped in free air, not enclosed within a harness or convoluted tubing, and incorporated into your 6 guage charging wire as near to the battery as feasible.



In general, fusible links are sized 2 guage sizes less than the parent wire they protect... so two wire guage sizes smaller than 6 guage would be 10 guage. And 10 guage is equivalent to 5.0 mm sq.

[sixsix]

You can go to auto parts store buy a section of the fuse able link wire add it to this: https://www.ebay.com/p/Soundbox-Connect ... 66695144to buy some ends and replace the fuse able link and wire.
What you need is a fusible link that is 5.0 square mm in cross section, rated for 50 amps, about 6 inches long, unwrapped in free air, not enclosed within a harness or convoluted tubing, and incorporated into your 6 guage charging wire as near to the battery as feasible.



In general, fusible links are sized 2 guage sizes less than the parent wire they protect... so two wire guage sizes smaller than 6 guage would be 10 guage. And 10 guage is equivalent to 5.0 mm sq.

Good advice.


Mark - It is Truly a new YEAR.



Mike

[AstroWill]

What you need is a fusible link that is 5.0 square mm in cross section, rated for 50 amps, about 6 inches long, unwrapped in free air, not enclosed within a harness or convoluted tubing, and incorporated into your 6 guage charging wire as near to the battery as feasible.

In general, fusible links are sized 2 guage sizes less than the parent wire they protect... so two wire guage sizes smaller than 6 guage would be 10 guage. And 10 guage is equivalent to 5.0 mm sq.

Nice copy and paste from https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/ ... ible-link/

[markmitch]

yeah I save links that can be useful or when somebody can use them. I even go as far as saving this kind of stuff to my external hard drive. I didn't try to claim it just trying to help. Hope thats ok Will.