Starter Shorted Out Again - WHY???

[johnny_h]

Hey everyone,

I recently had an issue with my Accord while it was idling. The car is always turned on in the morning to let it warm up, but one day while it was idling, the car shut off. When I tried to turn it on again, all it did was click. I checked in the the hood and one of the battery cable connectors that attach to the battery post was cracked, it looked like it melted and broke off. And there was a horrible stench too, like sulfur.

I figured it was the battery that shorted out, so I bought a new battery and a new battery cable. Problem solved? Well after about a week the same issue happened again except that this time smoke was coming from the starter. Same sulfurish stench. So I swapped out the starter and for the past 3 weeks, the car has been running fine.

That was until today. It did the exact same thing again, same horrible sulfurish smell a light smoke trail from the starter. What gives? What is causing this???

I dont want to keep replacing starters every 3 weeks.

Help!

[deevergote]

Check your harness. Chances are that burning smell is your harness frying somewhere. Look for damaged wires. Replace them as necessary.

[johnny_h]

Deevergote, which harness should I inspect, whats the name of it?
Thanks!

[deevergote]

All of it. Inspect every wire you can find for damage. If the battery cables had issues, anything could potentially have sustained damage.

[sonikaccord]

Especially in your ignition and starting wires under the dash. If you still have your starter, take it apart and look at the brushes and wire on the rotor and check for any discoloration or strange damage

[Raf99]

Sooo some other things to check....

The starter wire should technically connect back to the fuse box. Check the fuse and make sure its not half broken/cracked and seated properly. You also specifically want to check the wire between the fuse box and the starter. If you know how to use a multi-meter then get it out, you want to check the resistance of the wire and make sure there is no faults in it. But as mentioned above there is a short somewhere in the wire. It is causing the components attached to the wire to burn up. I'm thinking your fuse may not be working properly for the starter too.

Good luck

[Fleetw00d]

Check the condition of the main ground cable to the transmission housing and the integrity of that connection. On my 93 EX sedan, it would crank slowly initially, then pick up speed, even with a new battery and alternator (previous owner chasing the problem). I started it after cleaning the engine bay and all the small ground wires started steaming. The main ground connection was worn out (loose) so all the starting current was finding paths through all other small ground wires and heating them up, boiling the water that was on them.

[oyajicool]

Fyi

I thought I was going to let it go but I couldn't.
I think I should contribute a little.





If you smell a stench, it is due heat created by a circuit that is getting a current far more than it was designed for. You can easily find that circuit by your hand, carefully hovering over or touching wires you suspect.

You are seeing a light smoke coming out of newly installed starter motor. I bet that motor is at fault. Why it failed in three weeks? I don't know. Maybe it was a badly built motor from get go. You should be able to get it replaced at the store you bought it from.

While you are at it, remove all of spark plugs and turn the crankshaft with hand tool. Check for undue strain turning it. If you feel there's too much of drag, maybe that is the root of the cause, frying the starter motor.

Just a thought,,,,,,,,

[Raf99]

Did the burning starter happen when starting the car or out of the blue while driving/sitting?