As yours is manual transmission, get some buddies to give you a push and start it that way. Once it has started and before removing the starter, check the battery voltage. Also, once you do get it started, check the alternator output voltage. You may find the the problem is only a bad alternator that is not fully charging the batteries, bad batteries that will not accept a charge.
If the starter solenoid contacts has fused as hs been suggested, I can't see the panel lights coming back on.
Keep us posted on what the fix was.

 

The problem with the Dodge Cummins starter isn't that the contacts get "fused". What happens is that the contacts wear out. The "Larry's" heavy duty contacts that you can purchase from Foster are just that; heavy duty. They don't wear out as quick and provide a better, larger contact area.

 

Edit: I should mention that I am the thread starter. I lost the e-mail account associated with the "AlanGifford" account here at DTR. So, I had to make this new account with my current e-mail.

I got the truck going again by tapping on the starter assy. with a hammer, and I ordered the contacts and solenoid from LarryB's. For two months, I didn't have the problem again, and hadn't installed the new contacts. The other day, it did it again. I tapped on it with a hammer multiple times, and the best I could get was a slow turn over that stopped due to a lot of popping/clicking sounds in the starter. This happened even with another vehicle giving me a jump, accompanied by repeated sparking at the battery terminal and jumper cable.

The symptoms described above seemed to me to indicate a problem with the electrical connection somewhere in the starter, so I decided to replace the contacts and solenoid. I removed the starter assy. and upon inspecting the existing contacts, I saw no indication of burning, arcing, or any other sign of intermittent connection. I replaced the contacts and solenoid anyway. Upon replacing the starter, the truck fired up right away, with no hesitation. It did this four or five times again, but now I am back to the original problem: when I turn the key to the start position, a short kills the electrical system for a few seconds, then it fades back on, as voltage rises. No starter turning at all, just a click from the starter, and shorted electrical system.

Can anyone think of any other cause for this issue? Much thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

Tapping on the sol only works a few times as you found out.

However quote "accompanied by repeated sparking at the battery terminal and jumper cable."
If you have good connections at the battery there would be NO sparking. The sparking is contact being made and broken. Look for an internally corroded cable.

One other thing is the pax side battery cable has known to short to ground as it comes across the front of the engine, is it possible that the small movement of the eng when the starter engages is enough to make contact with the bare wire?

 

Here's why I think there was sparking at the cable: jumper cables don't have a whole lot of surface area to make contact. They have the jagged teeth, which I managed to get buried a little bit in the soft battery terminal. There was plenty good connection for jumping the vehicle. The popping/clicking is a result of the starter intermittently shorting out. When it shorts, it's drawing huge current from the other vehicle, and the surface area of those jumper pinchers is not sufficient to carry that immense (and unnecessary) current.

I'll have to test your hypothesis regarding the cable that links the two positive battery terminals, I didn't think to check that. I am reticent to believe that it could be anything but the starter, since tapping on it with the hammer worked once, and a little bit the second time.

I have another problem now, too. I thought maybe there was a problem in the motor wiring, and it looked accessible. I opened and removed the casing (not realizing that the armature would not be coming along), and saw no obvious problems except that the spring loaded-bushings are fully extended, preventing me putting it back together. There are a couple of phillips screws that I didn't remove, and I'm thinking that maybe removing them will allow me access to the bushings. Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks again.

 

Check your grounds

 

x200
(Oops, just seen how old this post is.... forgot I was searching, lol!)