electrical and ignition Could I Have Killed My Starter..?

[eurotrash]

I was installing my velocity stack/air cleaner and the stack swung down and hit square on the big positive post of the sr440 starter.  took me about 3 seconds to get there..heard it pulling amps HARD. now it won't turn over.  I was at the end of my block of time and didn't have time to trouble shoot.  Any input here gents?  yes, I searched for a similar incident..

 

tia guys.

Edited December 10, 2013 by eurotrash

[ray_]

Hmm, I'd look hard at the cable first...

 

GL,

[Hans]

Or the battery. have you checked voltage?

[TobyB]

What they ^^ said.  It's not the starter.  But anything else in the high current chain (including motor ground) is fair game.

 

It'll be cheap.

 

My dad did that once and blew the top right off the battery.

 

t

[lilmo]

It'll be harder to find than to replace.  This is why the first step for most any repair in all your manuals is "1) Disconnect battery."  

[FunkyLaneO]

The weakest connection between your battery and your starter probably fried. It's too late now but if you carefully felt around after this happened the bad spot would be really hot (that is why I said carefully). Like was said above, look at your ground connections and all battery connections between the battery and solenoid, sometimes stranded cables get crunchy when they fry so try flexing the battery cables near the connections and listen for crunching.

[eurotrash]

Thanks everyone..  I'll check it out tonight.  Battery relocated to the trunk with the TEP kit.  Grounded to trunk floor.  Connecting block on radiator wall. I will check all of the listed items, and the find the weak link first.

Edited December 10, 2013 by eurotrash

[dlmrun2002]

You got way too much  electricity Jason…… dooh

 

 

 

dlm   ny country

[jimk]

Probably the only guy around with heat treated stacks!

[eurotrash]

Ha!  yeah.  it made that sound that a stick welder makes when the stick...sticks... 
well it sounded, not good. - and sparked like a fkr right under the carb throat.  that's what took me so long to react to the short! I was shielding/watching for flames!

 

Probably the only guy around with heat treated stacks!

[Mike Self]

I grounded the + battery terminal to the battery hold-down post with my watchband (and receiving a nasty burn when the watchband got red hot in .00001 sec) while changing the oil in my '73, something I had done 100 times previously without incident.   I now cover the top of the battery with a shop towel before I mess around in there.  Same with messing in the vicinity of the starter, if I don't want to disconnect the battery and lose the radio's memory.

 

mike

[FunkyLaneO]

I used to work at a Nissan Dealership about 30 years ago in the service department, I remember one of the techs bumped his wedding ring against the battery while he had a grounded wrench in his hand (similar to what you did), the ring completed the circuit and gold being a superconductor and being the weakest link was instantly white hot and burned the flesh down to the bone, it was pretty gruesome. It is still my first thought whenever I smell singed hair, funny how smells trigger memories. 

 

He didn't lose his finger but it looked really weird and never worked the same again.  This is why I have a special "ring holder" in my garage, I take off my ring whenever I go in there and put it back on when I leave. Something to think about when you think 12v is harmless, the CCA's are no joke!

[path88]

anything in the high current chain is fair game.

 

Do you know of any online articles that explains to a newb the proper technique to search for these issues?  I'd like to tackle my similar problem but don't have the wisdom to do it.

[Hans]

A wire or cable that's taken the load of a short to ground will show signs of burnt or bubbled rubber. They may also melt inside - certainly a small wire. I don't know what the test for a shorted battery would be - start with a volt meter I suppose. It might recover with a slow charge, I suppose. Be very careful charging batteries.

 

If this example, if the carb horn shorted the positive starter terminal to the engine block, you'd need to check (or just replace) hot lead to starter and ground strap from block to ground/battery. Those would take most of the load. If it grounded to the chassis, then just the hot lead to starter.

 

If you don't have a Haynes 2002 manual, ask Santa for one. Much useful info in there.

[path88]

A wire or cable that's taken the load of a short to ground will show signs of burnt or bubbled rubber. They may also melt inside - certainly a small wire.

 

Haynes 2002 manual...Much useful info in there

 

I'll give it a go.  I have a frustrating learning disability where I really have a tough time reading and then applying written info.  It stinks.  

 

On the other hand, when I witness an issue and see the process to fix it, I retain that stuff like a trap for some reason.  For an ignoramus like me, it's a ton of false starts and trial-by-error working on my own, but I'll jump in there and take a look.

 

Hunting around YouTube may reveal a few fixes as well.  I'll check that out too.  If anyone knows of URL's that might be helpful, please send them along.