float
New Member
Hi all,
sorry for the long post!
What happened:
so I recently had quite a bit of smoke going on in my old Sumitomo S160.
At first it started fast and normal even though it was out in the rain for 3 weeks since the way to my machine was flooded.
Then ca. 4-5 minutes after starting while I was navigating it to a more sheltered place the cable leading from the battery to the ignition lock went up in smoke.
I stoped the machine and jumped out the cabin.
At first I thought that the cranking mechanism got stuck somehow and proceeded to run current through the cable to the ignition lock and to the starter (still might be the case).
Diagnostics so far:
So I replaced the cable leading from the battery to the ignition lock and tried cranking again but nothing happened.
I checked the starter and already smelled that something was burned
.
I had someone crank the ignition and could hear the click from the solenoid.
While I was there I measured the current.
Top screw of Solenoid (battery side) showed 12.45 volt. (12v Battery so that's ok).
Bottom screw (starter side) was 0 volt without cranking and 12+ volt while cranking. So it looked like the Solenoid was still working.
The cable from the ignition switch to the solenoid read 0 volt without cranking and ca. 4 volt while cranking (is that a bit much?)
So my fear that the starter was busted was pretty much confirmed already.
I took it out and tested the solenoid again and it would not push the pinion of the starter out anymore. I however was able to pull it out with light force.
So I took the starter motor apart and there was a lot of melted material around the armature.
What actually surprised me was that the actuating arm that should push the pinion out was just flopping up and down and front and back and I was also not able to push the pinion out manually. The actuating arm was not attached to anything (anymore).
My theories:
My working theory so far is that the solenoid and actuating arm got stuck (or lose) after starting the engine and did not pull the pinion back from the fly wheel and the constant connection to the running engine overheated the starter. The still engaged solenoid then fed back the growing current to the ignition lock and burned the wire there...
Where to go from here?
Long story short I am pretty sure I have to replace the starter motor.
My questions are:
1) Do you have other and better theories about what might have happened?
2) What can I do or check before replacing the starter to make sure the new starter doesn't become a toaster right away too?
Thank you very much for reading and your help!!
sorry for the long post!
What happened:
so I recently had quite a bit of smoke going on in my old Sumitomo S160.
At first it started fast and normal even though it was out in the rain for 3 weeks since the way to my machine was flooded.
Then ca. 4-5 minutes after starting while I was navigating it to a more sheltered place the cable leading from the battery to the ignition lock went up in smoke.
I stoped the machine and jumped out the cabin.
At first I thought that the cranking mechanism got stuck somehow and proceeded to run current through the cable to the ignition lock and to the starter (still might be the case).
Diagnostics so far:
So I replaced the cable leading from the battery to the ignition lock and tried cranking again but nothing happened.
I checked the starter and already smelled that something was burned
. I had someone crank the ignition and could hear the click from the solenoid.
While I was there I measured the current.
Top screw of Solenoid (battery side) showed 12.45 volt. (12v Battery so that's ok).
Bottom screw (starter side) was 0 volt without cranking and 12+ volt while cranking. So it looked like the Solenoid was still working.
The cable from the ignition switch to the solenoid read 0 volt without cranking and ca. 4 volt while cranking (is that a bit much?)
So my fear that the starter was busted was pretty much confirmed already.
I took it out and tested the solenoid again and it would not push the pinion of the starter out anymore. I however was able to pull it out with light force.
So I took the starter motor apart and there was a lot of melted material around the armature.
What actually surprised me was that the actuating arm that should push the pinion out was just flopping up and down and front and back and I was also not able to push the pinion out manually. The actuating arm was not attached to anything (anymore).
My theories:
My working theory so far is that the solenoid and actuating arm got stuck (or lose) after starting the engine and did not pull the pinion back from the fly wheel and the constant connection to the running engine overheated the starter. The still engaged solenoid then fed back the growing current to the ignition lock and burned the wire there...
Where to go from here?
Long story short I am pretty sure I have to replace the starter motor.
My questions are:
1) Do you have other and better theories about what might have happened?
2) What can I do or check before replacing the starter to make sure the new starter doesn't become a toaster right away too?
Thank you very much for reading and your help!!
