I was talking to an old buddy of mine who owns a 96
ram diesel and recently he had a problem with his starter.
They blamed it on low amps which caused it to stick on
which in turn overloaded some wiring taking out not only
the starter but also the fuel shutoff valve. He said it was
very close to a fire until the fuseable link went. Anyway
it ended up a nice bill to fix.
Has anyone else heard of this?
I myself have a 94.

 

I think that the problem is the starter contact points. They wear and then stick.

I hope that I remember to change mine soon!!!!

 

Thanx Smokee
Im going to check mine out this week.

 

Yes, it is the contacts on the starter, my dads 98 started having trouble starting, and sometimes sticking, and he bought new contacts for like $2(I think) and fixed the problem.

Eric

 

I don't want to sound like a smart alex but he has it backwards. Ohms law says that voltage and amperage is inversely perportional. That means that as the battery goes low or weak the voltage goes down, the amperage goes up. The more voltage the less amperage. It is the high amperage that causes the overheating of the wires and contacts.

 

Hi guys
Thanx for the replies.
Well I dont know much about electrical and low batteries as you
can see in my post subject, so thanks Haulin_in_Dixie for
straightening that out. As they say "learn sumthin new everyday"
By the way there Haulin , sweet truck you got there.

 

Not worth the time just checking your contacts without replacing them, good price on heavy duty contacts and instructions here-
www.fostertruck.com/dodge

The only time I've ever seen a fuel shutdown solenoid fail is when the starter sticks on overheating the solenoid lift-up coil. If your starter ever sticks first thing to do is unplug the connection to the solenoid. Not only will you save the solenoid but the truck will shut down.

 

I feel so strongly about the starter contacts,that this truck that I am working over now came to me with a new starter, so when I did the fuel lines, I orderd new oversize contacts from larry's and spent the whole 10 minutes replacing the new ones in the new starter with the new ones , I just cannot stand the thought of risking a 20$ dollar fuel relay and a $200 fuel solenoid,and possibly a new starter and fly wheel damage, for a few dollars on starter contacts,which by the way in the new starters from your local dealer and parts house come new with the cheap thins ones. Goodluck and thats my 2 cents, Rick

 

Just like to say thanx again for your help people.