My new HDJ81 almost burnt last night! What happened? (1 Viewer)

[nickw]

Well, I almost lost my truck last night. I have a HDJ81 that I just got 1 week ago to replace my stolen BJ60. My girlfriend was driving it and she drove it from my house to hers to borrow it. (about 2Km?)

By the time she got to her house there was lots of smoke billowing from under the hood. She popped the hood and the starter was glowing/burning. She called the fire department. By the time they got there it was slowing down. They did not have to put it out. They just disconnect both batteries. It just baked/cooked the starter. There was no open flame from what I understand. I was very lucky.

I have not seen the truck yet, and will not be able to see it until afterwork today, by which time it will be dark. What could of caused this? She is mechanically inclined, so its not like she was being negligent. I know it's not her fault, I am just wondering what it could be.

The only thing I can think of is the solenoid did not disengage. I wonder what other kind of damage this caused? I am guessing it melted the lead on the starter. Is a starter lead hard to replace on a HDJ81? I am also not sure how the 12/24 volt system works on my truck. I know the truck is 12v with a 24v starter. I just don't know if it's a series/parallel switch or if it steps the power up. But hopefully the 12/24v system is all fine and good.

Anyone have any idea what this will cost to fix? I looked on gscruiserparts.com. They have a 12HT 24v starter on website. It's $500 Cnd plus shipping with the core charge. I will not be able to afford this for a while. Looks like I am walking for a awhile now. Even if I had the money, who knows how long it will take to get a starter.

Thanks for the help.
Nick

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

Hey Nick,
I think your guess is correct-the starter did not disengage. Normally one can hear that-there is a distinctive whine when revving the engine with the starter engaged.
You will need a new starter (or a rebuilt one). And I would bet that the one from a 12HT will not fit. Do you have any kind of warranty on the thing? Maybe talk to whoever sold it to you.
j

 

[nickw]

Hey Nick,
I think your guess is correct-the starter did not disengage. Normally one can hear that-there is a distinctive whine when revving the engine with the starter engaged.
You will need a new starter (or a rebuilt one). And I would bet that the one from a 12HT will not fit. Do you have any kind of warranty on the thing? Maybe talk to whoever sold it to you.
j

I am going to call my importer today after he is open.
We will see what he says. I know when I bought the truck it was bought "As-is" in used condition. He would not of known about the problem. So if he does not cover it I will understand. It's just bad timing for me.

I have had a solenoid stick in another truck once. I heard the whine and shut it off right away. My girlfriend probably just did not hear it over the diesel.

I can also look at having it rebuilt locally.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[swixtt]

hey nick... i can't believe what i just read!! that completely sucks. i know of a guy out towards Moyie who is well known for rebuilding those. i had taken one to him in the summer and it cost about $80 or so. not sure whether he's done the LC ones or not but he does a ton of imports.
well, if you need a hand or more info just drop me an email.

adios for now

 

[cruiser_guy]

Nick, let me know if you want me to look in Guatemala when I get back. There's a guy in Abbotsford who rebuilds all things electrical as well, he rebuilt an EDIC for me once for about $60.

 

[nickw]

hey nick... i can't believe what i just read!! that completely sucks. i know of a guy out towards Moyie who is well known for rebuilding those. i had taken one to him in the summer and it cost about $80 or so. not sure whether he's done the LC ones or not but he does a ton of imports.
well, if you need a hand or more info just drop me an email.

adios for now

Is his name Clayton? If so I have already left a message for him. I know him pretty well. I will see if he can do it, or even get the parts. It's 24v, so we will see.

Cheers.

 

[nickw]

Nick, let me know if you want me to look in Guatemala when I get back. There's a guy in Abbotsford who rebuilds all things electrical as well, he rebuilt an EDIC for me once for about $60.

Never thought of getting one from Guate.
If I can't get my starter rebuilt, this is probably they best and cheapest route to go.
A used one is probably going to be $500 plus tax and shipping. So I will gladly pay the 100Q for a new starter.

Might do it anyway to just to have a spare.
I will keep you posted.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[monton]

Nick, the same thing happened with my 12H-T about a year ago. The starter stayed engagedand there was a whirring sound. I pulled over and shut her down before a fire started but I could definitely smell an electrical burning. I pulled the starter and had a buddy of mine in North Van have a look at it. He took it apart in front of me... not much to it but you do have to know what you are doing. We replaced the contact and cleaned the bendix. I put it back in the truck and have had no problems since. Yours, however, could be a bit more fried than mine was... but my gut says it can be rebuilt, it's only mechanical.

Monton

 

[swixtt]

Is his name Clayton? If so I have already left a message for him. I know him pretty well. I will see if he can do it, or even get the parts. It's 24v, so we will see.

Cheers.

yeah i could be... i don't really remember. he has a sign on the highway a few km out of town. it's probably the same guy you know. anyway, i was pretty impressed when i got mine back from him. he looked at it while i was standing there and figured it out in about 2min. i left it with him for the day and he cleaned it up and painted it,etc. it's been running great ever since.
let us know what you find out there or if he ends up rebuilding it for you...

pedro

 

[nickw]

Anyone know the Nippondenso part number?

 

[cruiser_guy]

You can probably get the necessary parts from the dealer here. Just don't tell them that it's JDM. There's a thread on the starter contacts and plunger on the '60 forum right now. That's probably the root of your problem.

 

[nickw]

Just got of the phone with a local auto electric guy.
He knows his stuff and is real good.

He said for me to bring it in and he can look at it.
He said he should be able to get everything to rebuild it.

It mostly depends on how bad it was cooked.
A new one he said could be up to $1500 or more.
He looked in his book and could not find it.
If I can give him the part number he can give me a price.

Cheers.

 

[rick_d]

i have heard it's common in jdm trucks.

my '87 -74 stuck within 2 months of bringing it back and the '89- 74 had a brief issue over the weekend.

I'd say to most JDM truck owners, watch it and rebuild on first signs -cheap insurance but on 70 series it is a major headache.

rick

 

[nickw]

I just got off the phone with my importer.
He said the starter contacts on the 61 series sometimes had problems, but the 80 series ones were way better. This would be the first starter on a 81 series he has heard going this wrong.

He sends his starters down to Nippondenso in Vancouver.
he said typical rebuilds are usually about $350 Cnd.

I am going to pull it after work and survey the damage.
He might be able to send me down a rebuild kit.
He is going to see if there is one.
Otherwise if I identify the parts I need he can get them for me.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[browndog]

Nick:

While we have different motors, this happened to me when my truck was in the body shop recently getting repaired from an accident. When the lackey brought the truck around I could hear the starter screaming over the noise of the motor, but inside the cab he could not hear it. The culprit, I believe, was actually the ignition system which did not disengage when he started the truck.

You might squeeze some graphite in the keyhole, or maybe take the steering column case off and take a look at your ignition. Since that time I have had a few starting issues (hesitation before starter engages), but I think it's probably my contacts. 99% of the time it works just fine. Hope this helps.

 

[nickw]

Quick update:

I borrowed a car at lunch to go look at the truck.
I could smell burnt electrics very strongly once I got there.
When I looked under the hood everything looked normal.
No burnt out fuses or anything.
None of the wires looked melted.
The starter itself looked okay, with no visible color shift from being heated. Everything looked "okay" on the surface.

So I connected the batteries and tried to turn it over.
All I got was a big "CLUNK" from the solenoid.

Now that I think about it, I just connected the battery's hand tight, so there maybe was not a good enough connection. I will try tightening them and see if it helps.

I will still pull the starter to inspect it. If it looks "okay" I think I might try usuing it and just clean everything inside.

I will still want to properly rebuild or replace it. But if Charles can get me another starter out of Guate, then it would be my cheapest and best bet. If I can clean my current one and drive around with it for a few weeks than that would be good.

I will let people know my results tonight.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[brownbear]

the starter contacts are spoken about quite a bit in the 80 series section. Its a gasser problem as well. Just do a thread search on there too.

Its actually one of there first talked about maintenance items to do when you buy a 80.

definately talk to the importer. If they are decent they will help you out. Either with cheap parts or something.....Thats why you bought from an importer.

 

[nickw]

Does anyone know where the series/parallel switch is?
I want to check it to make sure it's okay and has no signs of burning on the contacts.
I could probably find it, but it would be nice if someone told me.

Thanks for the info on the starter brownbear.
Looks like it's more common than I thought.
Hopefully rebuild parts will be cheap.

Cheers,
Nick

 

[monton]

new contacts are about $15. They are big ones for the 24 volt starter. I think my contacts were the problem as they were down to nothing. Good luck.

 

[light_duty]

Nick, what a bummer. Hope you get it sorted!

Robin