93 explorer eddie wont start

[explorermomof3]

was just wondering if anyone here has ever tried to make their own battery cables instead of buying them?

my husbands son, did for one of his trucks and he says it works like a charm and is a lot cheaper. so we are thinking about it since money is very limited right now.

 

[geoph1986]

was just wondering if anyone here has ever tried to make their own battery cables instead of buying them?

My boss has made them for our shop equipment out of scrap pieces of welding cable. Easy to do really, cut the wire to the length you need, attach connectors, and done. If you make your own, make sure you use the same gauge cable, or heavier.

 

[ld50]

I`m thinking it`s gotta be a starter problem.

But....

You have to check the path of electricity! It`s really a simple circuit.

Here is the condensed lesson:

When you engage the starter circuit with the key, it sends twelve volts to the solenoid under the hood on the fenderwall to activate the switch.
A "solenoid" in layman`s terms is merely a high amperage "switch" that is controlled by a 12 volt power supply.

You might ask why we need a switch at the key to activate a switch elsewhere and I`ll tell you why.
Your starter needs a large amount of amperage to spin it. In order to handle this amperage you need a thick wire to transport it. The thicker the wire the less resistance it has. If you try to pump a massive amount of amps through a skinny wire it will overheat/ melt/ start a fire even.
in order to avoid running heavy guage wire right into the vehicle and back out to the starter, automakers use a solenoid switch closer to the battery.
So
When the solenoid is activated (key turned all the way) it sends a 12 volt current to the solenoid via a nice skinny wire. It takes very little amperage to engage the switch.
The solenoid in question has three wires connected to it.
1- a heavy guage wire direct from your battery + terminal
2- a heavy guage wire that is connected to your starter
3- a thin wire coming from your ignition key switch

The "click" you now hear actually happens every time you turn that key, it becomes noticeable when the starter doesn't activate. It is the sound of the switch being thrown.


If you have a multimeter, or a tester light, you can trace the power in this circuit very easily.
You will have 12 volts on the battery side of the solenoid (or your tester light will light up when you have the alligator clip to ground and you press the contact to the terminal)

If you have 12 volts, next;

Have someone turn the key (and hold it) and check for 12 volts on the starter side of the solenoid.

If you have 12 volts your solenoid is fine, so next;

Have someone turn the key (and hold it) and check for 12 volts at the starter
The positive terminal will be connected to a thick wire that heads under the engine and up into the engine bay on the passenger side.
(guess where it goes - to the starter side of your solenoid!)

If you have twelve volts there AND you are confident that your battery is fully charged, it`s terminals are clean and in good condition, (i.e how is that ground looking?) then I bet your starter is no good, get a new one.

*bonus tip
If you are worried about some sort of problem with the amount of current load that is being sent to your starter (lot`s of speculation on that here)
You can easily check that by disconnecting the twelve volt wire from the starter and connecting a battery load tester from there to ground. Have someone turn the key. -just long enough to check load mind you, load testers cause a lot of resistance in the circuit.
If you have a problem where the load is disrupted when asked for, the load tester will likely read and then quickly not read.

 

[explorermomof3]

thanks ld50! awesome information......and interesting i might add!

 

[explorermomof3]

UPDATE:

we just tested the connections with our multimeter...we have 12 volts from the battery...and 12 volts from the solenoid on the fender wall...we haven't tested theconnection from the starter itself yet since its nothing but water underneath from the snow melting so we are trying to figure out how to do that.

so if theres 12 volts coming from the connection to the starter itself then i can assume the problem is the starter correct? which is what im hoping since we already have a new starter.

 

[geoph1986]

Don't forget to check your ground connections too. Before replacing the starter, I would check it by jumping it directly.

 

[explorermomof3]

Don't forget to check your ground connections too. Before replacing the starter, I would check it by jumping it directly.

sorry i forgot to mention the ground..we also checked those and there's 12 volts from there as well.

 

[explorermomof3]

gotta love toy stores! just got back from Harbor Freight Tools and we were able to get a creeper for 19.99 woohoo! water problem solved! so after a cup of coffee off we go to hopefully fix things.

 

[ld50]

so if theres 12 volts coming from the connection to the starter itself then i can assume the problem is the starter correct? which is what im hoping since we already have a new starter.

Yes, assuming your battery is in good shape and the first thing you have done is check the quality of all the connections in the circuit. They should be disconnected and cleaned with a little bit of sandpaper. These connections can become corroded and cause intermittent connections which actually work to further degrade the contact points because of arcing of electricity across them.

Sometimes a no-start situation can be as simple as a battery connection not being tight enough. I`ve seen a loose ground do this many times. Someone will say their car won`t start, just click, which in itself is not an indication of a problem since it only takes a slight amount of amperage to activate the solenoid. So I go look under the hood, find the ground on the battery is loose enough to spin on the post, so I tighten her up and voila!

Don't forget the bulletin I posted previously. Corrosion in your battery wires will rob you of amperage just as easily as a loose connection.

-and yes, you can make your own. You can buy wire and terminals and end loops you can solder on the wire ends that need to be bolted to a connection somewhere.
Just need solder and a small propane torch.
You would need to ask at an auto parts store for the parts to make your own.
I don't have any pics of the process but all my battery wiring including a dual battery system is home made by me. The pic shows a solenoid I use for isolation between my two batteries and has the soldered on end loops I mentioned.

 

[explorermomof3]

Sometimes a no-start situation can be as simple as a battery connection not being tight enough. I`ve seen a loose ground do this many times. Someone will say their car won`t start, just click, which in itself is not an indication of a problem since it only takes a slight amount of amperage to activate the solenoid. So I go look under the hood, find the ground on the battery is loose enough to spin on the post, so I tighten her up and voila!

Don't forget the bulletin I posted previously. Corrosion in your battery wires will rob you of amperage just as easily as a loose connection.

the connections are all tight, that was the first thing we checked after replacing the solenoid on the fender wall.

 

[explorermomof3]

UPDATE:

the old starter is out...but its coffee break time.

 

[explorermomof3]

UPDATE:
put the new starter in.......cleaned the battery posts for safe measures again....hooked up the battery.....went to start.........and she started!!!!! WOOHOO! shut her off.......tried again and she started right up. about 9pm ill go back out and start once more for good measure. battery light on dash is off now as well. dome lights and interior lights work as well.

thanks for everyones help you all ROCK!!!!!!

now we need to figure out the 4WD!!!! ha ha ha

 

[geoph1986]

Glad to hear it's going.

 

[explorermomof3]

ok since i couldnt find the picture of my truck that i had..i just took new ones.

M purple pride: