Troubleshooting Starter Problem - 96XP

[JeremyD615]

Alright everyone, help me troubleshoot this thing, because it’s got me stumped. I just got the new 787 installed in my 96XP, and have everything buttoned up. I put a fresh battery in, hit the start button, and just got the solenoid click...

I first tried jumping the solenoid, and got sparks, but the starter doesn’t even sound like it’s trying to engage. I then took a multimeter to the solenoid, and I’ve got power on one side (12.7V), and on the other, I get a brief spike for a moment (<1V), and then nothing. I get the two beeps when I put the lanyard on, and then another two beeps when I hit the start putting and get this brief spike.

I’ve pulled the starter and bench tested it, and it does work under power, and spins freely by hand. I also tried hooking power up to the starter in the ski without it bolted in, and I get a quick spin for less than a second, then the two beeps, and then nothing.

Where should I be looking now? And the biggest piece that has me perplexed, why won’t it turn over with the solenoid jumped?

 

[etemplet]

Did you take the starter apart. Could be your cable to the starter. You could try a voltage drop test. to see what happens. I'd take the starter apart and have a look inside. I just had the solenoid clicking on a 2001 GTX RFI. Tried to jump it and "no joy". Pulled the starter and it was wet inside.

 

[JeremyD615]

I didn’t disassemble the starter itself, but I think I’m going to have to. I did check all of the cables, and even tried moving the ground around to see if that was the issue to no avail. I did notice that I have a little arcing coming from a chip in the paint on the starter case though, so I’m thinking that’s where my problem is. It’s just strange though because it was working perfectly fine before I pulled the motor and bench tests okay. I only get the issue when it’s bolted to the motor. As for the voltage drop test, I can’t do one. I’m not getting power out of that side of the solenoid long enough to even test it. I get a quick spike of one volt or so and then it drops to zero. If I keep holding the start button through the spike and drop, the ski beeps twice, then repeats the whole click, voltage spike, and then zero process. It seems like the ground is failing under load, but I can’t figure out for the life of me why...

 

[etemplet]

Read up on voltage drop tests unless you are proficient in doing them. I haven't done them in a while so I don't want to lead you astray. Starters go out pretty quick.

 

[mikidymac]

If you are getting an arc on the starter then you have a bad ground. The ground goes to the starter then the starter grounds the engine.

 

[JeremyD615]

If you are getting an arc on the starter then you have a bad ground. The ground goes to the starter then the starter grounds the engine.

I agree that it’s acting like a bad ground. I just can’t figure out why it’s not grounding. The face of the starter is clean and bare metal, the mag cover is clean and not painted there. The cable seems solid, and I took sandpaper to the terminal end, and even used a thick jumper cable to parallel the ground with no change. I did test voltage drop at the battery, and if I hold down the start button, it will drop about a volt the first time the solenoid clicks, and then it sucks it all the way down to 9.5-10V the second time it tries to close. I’m going to pull the starter again and see if I’m missing something obvious, but this is strange.

 

[JeremyD615]

Update: It wasn’t the ground. It was a partially melted wire in the harness from the MPEM to the rear E-Box. I don’t know how I missed it, but there was a small section of the wire loom the was resting under the backside of the exhaust, and it either got hot and melted, or more likely just rubbed, the insulation off of some of the wire. I spliced and heat shrunk that wire and it fired right up.

 

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

Great to hear. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[JeremyD615]

It’s always nice when a solution gets posted rather than having all that troubleshooting in a thread just to have it die right before the answer gets out!

 

[etemplet]

Good Catch !!