Wet weather brought electrical probem.

[nealpellecchia]

problem...When I turn the key to start the lights on the dash dim badly. Batteries tested good! Other wise headlights on good with brake lights, dome 3 lights, fine with key in off. But after the thing resets. You have to turn to start to dim it all again. It will then do it in run a bit too. Took starter out , I thought it was jammed armature to field. No, Guy took apart to find brushes good but found the solenoid contact washer very thin, worn out. Put in new thick one for 25.00! Cheap I thought. But they only last about a year now he said. I saw a box at his shop that says New Starter like mine did. He said oh it's been painted right off; meaning re-built. Apparently new starters these days can mean shiny new looking with new parts. But not new. Like a 12oz. pound of coffee I said.

Seems like some kind of deep short all of a sudden. I traced the leads from starter switch and removed some fuses to try and eliminate the shorted lead. Didn't think I needed to take the wiper fuse out etc. But I better. Maybe the purple wire to the solenoid that's been under suspicion is now shorted out. Help!

 

[ak diesel driver]

kinda sounds like your starter is pulling too many amps.

 

[nealpellecchia]

kinda sounds like your starter is pulling too many amps.

that's why I took the starter out. I looked closely at the cable covering post. and yes i didn't go that far when cleaning the terminals. will replace. it has to be that i think.

 

[ak diesel driver]

when you get it out see if you can take it apart and look for any signs of the armature dragging on the fields.

 

[nealpellecchia]

when you get it out see if you can take it apart and look for any signs of the armature dragging on the fields.

Ok, I took the starter out because I still had a frequent clicking problem. I still had the lights dimming even without the starter in the truck. Thanks to the guy who posted the photos of those dirty cables I dug deeper into mine. Two batteries with two positive cables attached to one positive battery side mount. The long bolt is like lead and wouldn't polish up. Also I cleaned the ends better with wire brush. Replaced grounds with new ones. A shiny new bolt really helped. I did it first with one battery and a new short bolt from the new positive wire.

When I put the starter in I decided to take a chance on the old one because it was such a .......to get that wire on. Plus I would have to be decisive about adding a new wire to the positive connector to go to the fire wall terminal. It starts beautifully now. The starter needed a new contact washer. It was worn down thin...at least half as thick as the new one in about a year or so. This is normal on these copper washer solenoids I'm told. I coulda got a steel washer from the dealer for about 50.00 but was caught off guard about that and just let him put another new copper one in for just 25.00! Well now that I'm such an expert with that big...starter I'll do it again in about a year.

But!... my fuel problem is getting near fixed. That top return hose needs to be well clamped. They loosen up after short time I see. I practiced ha ha with a small hose clamp to see just how small it would go before it popped out of the grooves like some of them do. I thought I needed smaller clamps. After sitting for over a week, or overnight, my guess is that the dirt falls off of the sock in the fuel tank and with my suction leaks fixed it runs like a new truck until the sock clogs again in a couple of hours. It runs way better than all those people who say the 6.5 is such a dog.

Proper fuel pressure allows the advance to work properly and the truck is a joy to drive now, the way it can just takes fuel now. Very peppy! until..., about two hours later I noticed this ability to wane. Under a small load in high gear I do think my baby backfired! I wasn't sure it was me but because of what happened next I think that a lean condition had set in. It had become a chore to drive again as if the throttle linkage needed lube of something. Finally I remembered what I read in this Chilton's diesel basics book about diesels needing vented fuel caps. So I finally pulled over and loosened the cap to a big pressure relief sound, like I get a lot lately, and I left the cap on very loosely. The problem went away! I remember a poster saying that this suction noise when removing the cap is evidence of a clogged sock. I wondered exactly how that condition would work. My guess is that it causes the pumps to suck harder effecting the air on top of the fuel because the fuel becomes one with the air that won't go easily past the sock. Also I bet this causes the suction leaks in my warmed up return hose connections with the need to suck something in some where. The store says that the cap is correct and not vented. Anybody know if this is true? Or will it not matter when I drop the tank and get rid of the clogged sock...if it is clogged.