storx

alright this is really annoying........today first time ever my STARTER FUSE blew.....so i used the spare to start it i go down the road and i stop to get fuel and when i start the truck it ends up being same fuse again blown..........i replace it with another fuse from something that wasnt so important and then i stoped off at the parts store to get more fuses and i come out to another blown fuse.............so i replace it and the spare and the one i borrowed from and i drive home tonight..........the truck restarted in the driveway fine check the fuse it actually didnt blow.......but what is with this?.....anyone else have this problem??????.....i traced all the starter wires back and they all are secure and tight and it doesnt appear to be anything wrong with wires being grounded out for what i can see......i looked in the manual and it appears that in 2000 they went to a smalled gauge wire from the previous years and what is in the trucks now..............makes me wander if the starter pulled to many amps because it uses compression to start the truck......

Huff nPuff

I noticed when my fuse started blowing,I noticed the contacts would get stuck.After replacing the starter contacts the fuse stopped blowing.You also may have a shorted starter solenoid.

Supermod56

Starter contacts more than likely. Go on eBay under "dodge cummins diesel" they always sell the heavy-duty ones on there cheap. Can't hurt either way. Your ground fault is in the starter probably.

Tom

Geico266

Take a look at my pics. I have pics of the staters contacts. I bought new ones from LarryB's. Check them out, but I'm not so sure it starter contacts. It may be the starter itself. Call Larry and ask his advice. Starters are an easy fix. 3 bolts, 2 wires and its on the driveway.

http://www.fostertruck.com/dodge/default.htm

Your starter has a problem, not the wiring. The design is fine, but WHEN the contacts, or brushes get worn they need maintenance. The fuse blowing is an indication something is wrong with the "appliance", not the wiring.

Good luck!

BigBlue

Swap the starter relay with another one (like the headlamp relay) and see it that helps. My buddies GMC was doing the same thing and after taking apart the fuse box to try and find a short we realized it was the simplest thing. We swapped the headlamp and starter relay and wa la!! The starter, she works.

storx

ok ill try a new relay the fuse hasnt blown yet today and i have started her up more then 10 times.....

Geico266

Wiring is good! Its either the starter or the relay. I'd replace the relay first, its cheaper!

owalstib

I had the same problem last February, it turned out to be the starter. My Son in Law owns a Auto and Truck Repair business and he tried replacing contacts and replacing the solenoid with out Luck. A call to a local Dodge Dealer and a talk with a Mechanic he knew there he was told to contact AC Delco and get a new starter. Dodge wanted over $450.00 for the starter, Delco gave him the Phone# of our Local Delco Parts dealer and he ordered it thru them for $235.00. It was a New Unit warranted for 12 months and had the Starter Motor, Solenoid and the Gear Reduction Unit completely assembled. He had so send the old Starter Assembly back as a Core for Rebuild for a credit to get it for $235.00 (no rebuilds were available when I needed one).

Dodge really likes MARK UP , they also wanted $200. to replace it. Not bad for 30 min.s labor..

Hope this helps.

storx

ok people i have tracked down the problem and have fixed what causes this problem.............i started out by buying the new brushes hoping for a cheap fix and after installing and having it pop another fuse i went ahead and bought a NEW starter unit..........ok i dish out the money take the other one off and install to have another fuse pop along with several trying to figure out the problem...........then i forgot about the relay so i tryed switchin it with another relay same thing pop fuses................fustrated i take the NEW starter back to get the 299.95 back and i take the truck up to the dealership because i was getting frustrated on the problem aswell they needed to do a recall that was recently published.......so i take it to them and they did what i did replace the starter/relay and it played stupid still.......so after them doing some research there is a HARNESS that replaces all of the wires going from the starter to the batteries with new seperate fuse and relay tied into the harness with a 40 amp fuse..................the harness upgrades the wire which in stock form is 18 gauge to a wopping 10 gauge wire.....................after all said and done it actually starts stronger then it has ever.....maybe because more juice to the starter but its nice.............and they even installed it for free because it was listed under free labor when they put it in the computer as:

Labor Operation No: 08-90-65-97 = (0.00) .40 HRS

diagnostics 55.00
new starter harness 78.95
"PLN 05019015AA"

Geico266

That is crazy! I have never heard of a wiring problem. First time for everything.
Glad you got it figured out.

Thanks for the update.

storx

i hope to have this put somewhere important on this website...........dodge actually has the mod on there list for possable recalls the dealership told me when i went to pick up the truck............but the date it was added for possable recall was 2002 and its now 05 going on 06 so yeah .......dont think it iwll make it because there are certain numbers that have to be met to have it become a recall.....now only if everyone on this forum called and complained before today.....hmmmmmmmmm