Bolt on starter getting red hot

[Franky132]

I have a 1985 mercruiser 5.0 228. I have been trying to get this motor to run for awhile now and I feel like I am chasing my tail. I cleaned all the connections on wires, replaced battery wires, and put in a brand new starter because the old one was shot. I got it to start today and it ran, but when I shut it off and tried to start it again, I noticed smoke coming from starter side of the engine so I shut it off immediately. There was about half an hour between when I started it originally and when I shut it off and tried it again. When I peaked down, the whole bolt in the picture was glowing red hot.The yellow arrow is the bolt. At the red arrow it was actually flaming and is now all white. I have gone over all the wiring diagrams and everything is wired correctly. I can not figure this out for the life of me. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[wellcraft-classic210]

Re: Bolt on starter getting red hot

The heat is caused by excessive electrical current. The current on the part you showed is contolled by the resistance of internal motor windings, The starter unit most likely has shorted windings or some other short circuit which is causing the high current draw. I would suggest you return it and try another.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Bolt on starter getting red hot

that is the link between the starter motor and solenoid. that will get hot if your solenoid did not disengage. either your key switch stuck, or your solenoid stuck and the starter stayed turning. You will have to pull the starter and have a look. and yes, new does not mean good.

 

[muc]

Re: Bolt on starter getting red hot

Might just be because you exceeded the 20-30 seconds of cranking followed by 2 minutes of cooling?

 

[Franky132]

Re: Bolt on starter getting red hot

Thanks for the info. When i was cranking the motor, the solenoid didn't seem to be fully engaging because it was not constantly turning the engine. It would get maybe 2 to 3 seconds of turning and then quit. During that time it really wasn't turning over very quickly. I replaced the ignition switch before the starter, thinking that it was the switch, and it didn't really make any difference. I checked the wires to the starter right after i ran it and they were a little warm, but nothing out of the ordinary. The thing that bothers me is that sometimes it starts perfectly and sometimes it doesn't. I replaced the external slave solenoid and cleaned up all the connectors for everything. I can't help but think that there is something else going on.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Bolt on starter getting red hot

pull the starter and have it checked.