I was having the clicking problem so I bought the Larry B contact kit.
Installed it yesterday, started up a couple of times seemed fine.
Towed the boat this morning. Got to where I was going and it wouldn't turn off. Disconnected the batteries and it shut down.
Re-connected the batteries, started up but I could hear the starter so I only drove till I found a safe spot and pulled over to see my feed valve coil smoking.
Disconnected everything. Waited for AAA. They didn't show up so I tried starting again. Started and stopped a couple times everything was fine. Made it to work. Shut off fine. Started to move off the train tracks and I could hear the starter again. Cooled down and worked ok.
What did I do wrong when replacing the plunger and contacts?
Help please, stuck at work now, plus I need to pick up my boat.

PeterC

 

what did you find was the problem?

 

Well, I'm not exactly sure.
There was not a problem with the contacts welding or the plunger binding. All that worked just fine.
There was not a problem with anything in the truck, I pulled the starter for the third time and put it in a vice. It did the same thing in the vice (the truck was nowhere near the starter). In fact it consistently did it in the vice. I even took the cover off the plunger. Push the plunger down and it stayed down (held in by the coil).
Once you applied power to the coil the coil would pull in and power would remain. Take power away from the coil and the coil would stay energized. I'm no DC specialist but I can't exactly figure out why the coil would de-energize once you pull it in. When the contacts close they apply power back to the solenoid post. Unless there is a diode there which would make sense. Now, I could be missing something but the whole thing really wore me out.
Anyhow, I installed a switch in my positive cable so that I could de-energize the starter if it stuck (which it was doing everytime), then re-installed the starter after re-assembling everything as was. Truck started and stopped fine. Has for about 8-10 starts. Go figure.
So, it was/is something in the starter.
Thanks for asking, at least now I know someone read the post.

P

 

I realize that I'm digging up an old post here, but mine is doing the same thing. I just got a rebuilt starter (had lifetime warranty) and put the oversized contacts and plunger in. It has worked fine most of the time, but a couple of times I can hear the starter sticking and it won't shut off unless the battery cables are pulled.

After hooking the cables back up, it doesn't do it again for a while, but I don't want to burn anything up. Is there something else that I should be checking? I don't think there is really anything to "mess up" in putting contacts in. Is there?

 

So you guys installed the ball and spring with the plunger? Did you make sure to re-install the thin, non-conductive papers between the contacts and solenoid housing? They could have torn. It could be that the solenoid is the problem, or that the truck's ignition switch is sticking that sends a continuous signal to energize the plunger.

Of course, it could just be a bad batch of plungers that you guys got.

 

Ball stayed in the hole when the plunger and spring came out. Installed the plastic shield, then the contact with the bolt through it, rubber o-ring on the outside. I don't remember there being any papers in there, except for maybe on the cable from the battery side. I guess I do have the plunger that came in the rebuilt starter that I could throw in there to check, I'm just getting tired of pulling it back out. . . although I'm real good at it now.

 

I never did find the problem.
I had ordered a new starter but the one that was acting up did not give me anymore problems for at least a couple months. I put the new starter in just in case and have the old one as a spare.
The contacts were not welding and the plunger was not binding. The contacts were being held in magnetically.
Why? I don't know but I was using a battery charger to test and it did the same thing time after time.
New starter has not been a problem but neither was the old one.
I never could get an answer about why the solenoid disengages. Unless there is a diode in there somewhere positive power is applied to the post once the contacts pull in.

P

 

Okay, so new contacts in, intermittently starter stays engaged. Have to pull battery cables to make it stop. Have solenoid saver diode, so can shut truck down when this happens, but starter keeps spinning.

Suspected ignition switch, so I used the diagram in my Haynes manual and found the wire that goes to the trigger switch on the starter. Wired a toggle switch into that. Switch off, will not try to start. Switch on, starts as normal but yesterday stuck on even after switch was off. I believe that the rest of that circuit is from ign switch to fuse panel under hood to a relay then back out to the trigger switch.

Relay sticking? or is there something I'm missing about the ignition switch that the toggle switch wouldn't turn it off? If it would do it consistently it would be much easier to diagnose. . .

 

You could check the connections at the power center on the fender, maybe there is a crossed wire under there thats holding the starter relay closed???

 

Sounds to me like the exact same thing that I was experiencing.
Mine would stay engaged while clamped in a vise, fifty feet away from my truck.
Maybe the winding of the starter motor is shorted to the case and that is causing it to stay held in?
The only thing that makes it drop out is removing the 12 volts from the main terminal.
I did it over and over again with a battery charger.
Change the starter and take the old one to a re builder for diagnosis. Then we will know.

P

 

If only I had $200 to do that. I think I'll take it out and see if I can get them to replace it again. This is supposed to be a rebuilt one. . .I just got it. We'll see if they'll honor the lifetime warranty again.