I have a 94 555d and recently had to replace the starter due to it shorting out internally. Since then I probably have 15-20 hours on it and last night while driving at just above idle it up and died. It wasn’t a violent event and was more like it ran out of fuel or the alternator and battery gave up the ghost. I checked the fuel filters and all my connections and tried starting it but all I got was a click of the starter solenoid. Not the starter trying to engage but just the solenoid clicking. I charged the battery and still the same thing. Tomorrow morning I’m going to remove the starter and use jumper cables to see if I can get the starter to spin and the bendix to engage. Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated
First, it stops running. Second, it won’t crank. I think you are probably dealing with a Oklahoma wood Booger. Messing with your tractor. I hear they are a thing. Or, maybe check the fuse panel. At this point, it could go either way.
maybe load test the battery. No power to the shutdown sol, it turns off. No power in the battery, no crank.
Do you have a multimeter? Do you know how to load test a battery. Do you know how to test the cables before starting the parts cannon. Troubleshooting could save a lot. Don't be embarrassed if not sure , we were all electrical infants at some point. If we can help, be glad to. Simon C
I checked all the fuses and they are all good. I did find a relay that was bad and will be getting another when I head to town here in a bit. I do have a meter and will load test when it stops raining. I’m in industrial automation so electrical gremlins are what I deal with on a daily basis…lol. If anyone could point me to a schematic of the fuse/relay panel, that’d be amazing
If your starter was "shorting internally" the battery probably sustained some life ending stress as well. Agree load and cable test in order.
Have pulled a few starters years ago that worked on the bench so did not replace and finally found problem. Have never worked on your machine, maybe someone will post a schematic. Simon C
Found a crappy crimp job on the positive wire at the battery and replaced it but still no dice. Going to pull the starter in the morning and test it on the bench
A starter wouldn’t have just made it die. Sounds like a bad ground somewhere.
Battery negative to frame is 2ohms
What's the voltage at the starter when you turn the key to start?
I have no idea what it’s supposed to be, but there are various grounds throughout the machine. My 555e has a negative disconnect and 3-4 connection points just on that one. Not to mention the fuse panel, clusters, etc. If your machine was running and it died, it would not be the starter that made that happen. The starter only starts the machine, not keep it running.
I'm guessing a loose or not clean battery connection. Perhaps something got disturbed when the starter was replaced.
I was incorrect on the ohm reading. It’s 0.2 ohms from the negative terminal to the machine. I know the starter didn’t make it die but now I have a no crank issue so I’m wanting to verify the starter is still good. When I connected my meter to the battery and attempted to crank it, the voltage went from 12.53 to 4.5 . Currently crawling around the machine and checking everything
If your meter was on the battery terminals when the voltage dropped to 4.5 that would indicate a bad battery. If the battery voltage stays at an acceptable level (~11 v while cranking) but the voltage at the starter is lower, that indicates a wiring problem.
The starter would be the last thing I would check. Quite honestly I think it’s a waste of time right now to even mess with it. You have a bad battery, grounding point, or broken cable somewhere. Take all cables apart, clean the ends, inspect the cables for tears, and reassemble it all back. Might as well get the battery load tested while it’s out.
I had my dad here this morning giving me a hand and we actually saw the ground wire move when trying to crank. I have since removed the starter and battery and I cleaned the ends of the cables, the face of the starter and the mating surface on the transmission for the starter. I’m running to town here in a minute to get the battery checked out at Napa and I’m going to get a short ground cable and tie another ground to the frame
Anytime I had cables jump it was a mass flow of current that does it so it could be the engine tightened up and froze I grew up on Fords and that would be my guess try baring the engine over first thing .... Regards , Steve
Tried baring it over and it rotates easily
Well thats good has to be big power to make the cable jump you dont happen to have a clamp on amp probe you can check current draw with ?
Starter could be locked up One of my daughters is the general manager of our local NAPA and shes been there 18 years now some of their stuff she steers me away from because of problems with it and some electrical is on her list I had one starter that was shot in 4 months so ya never know
Took the starter and battery to get tested and the battery is good. The starter is another story. Kicked the bendix out, did NOT rotate, and started billowing smoke. I already have another starter on the way and I’m going to take the original to a repair shop that still rebuilds them. I’m starting to think that my problem was/is multifaceted. If the starter went bad and drew down the voltage enough to close the fuel shutoff, as well as the bad connection at the positive lead on the battery, that would cause all of my issues. Of course I won’t know for sure until I get a starter back in it though.
An ohm meter test of your battery cable tells you nothing as 1 strand left in tact will test at less than the 2 ohms you have posted. Only a voltage drop test with both leads on the same cable with load flowing will tell you the loss of potential. Don't remind me of how many people I have told this to before that have come back on this forum to say that the connector that looked okay was blown out internally. They still test okay for ohms but would not carry the load. If your not sure how to do the test we will explain. Simon C
Seen your post afterwards about it being 0.2 ohnms, still we don't test the strength of cable with an Ohms test. Ohm testing the 2 ends of a cable is to verify if we are on the correct cable. Your battery dropping to 4.5 volts was a good sign that the battery is junk or the starter is drawing too much current or both. To test your cables and grounds , couple simple tests; 1 - Put your Positive test lead on the frame, cab, engine block , feed side of master disconnect if its a ground disconnect system while putting your Negative test lead on the dead center of Battery Negative while flowing some current such as fan, lights or even attempting to crank and holding in the start position for 5 or so seconds. If the mter reads more than 0.5 volts on any one of these test something is wrong with that connection to battery ground. 2 - Put your Positive Lead on the dead center of battery positive while holding the Negative test lead on the other end of the cable at solenoid,at any other positive source on your machine while flowing some cuurent by means of lights and fan and maybe an attempted start. If any of these tests record more than 0.5- 0.8 volts loss of potential then something is wrong in that area or cable. It works best to have 2 people to do these tests. If unsure about these tests, maybe we can explain better. Simon C
Yes you are correct about the starter drawing too much current that the Fuel solenoid will drop out. This is common on units that have only 1 batttery and try to start in cold weather. The engine starts to crank and the fuel solenoid drops out, and guess what, It wont start. It might be only your starter after all, the other tests I posted I could do in less than 10 minutes and verify these items before firing the parts cannon. Simon C
@Simon C , I am with you about diagnosing vs. guessing. So many posts about no or slow cranking and people spent a ton of time and money but never do the basic voltage drop tests. 4 voltage measurements and you can have it diagnosed.
Just think how many times people post on here about starting issues, then tell us all the cables and connections are great, super, then we never hear from them again, after Simon posts his 4 test procedure. lol
I have gone to troubleshoot the fuel injection problem on a machine that others looked at, decided I would start at the battery box only to find the jumper between the two batteries in series was totally green on the underside and into the connection. Made a 8 inch jumper to replace it and guess what did not fix anything else. Not one of them had tested the simple battery box stuff to see what was wrong, must need a fuel injection pump or something. Had similiar repair on a Dodge 5500 that had low miles that dash was acting erratic, cleaned all the battery connections, sprayed them with Fluid Film and the shop forman was still talking there must be something else wrong with that truck a week later. It was working flawlessly but could not be bad cable connections in the engine compartment. Hard to convince some. Simon C
Got the new starter in and it fired right up. I did add another ground from where the battery terminates at the starter to the frame.
Thanks for posting the solution. As I posted in #25 above too much draw is pointing towards the starter. And you are correct in that an Extra ground cable to starter will not hurt if unsure about the original cables integrity. Good Job Simon C