Killed my starter

[rbonnett]

In the course of doing some routine maintenance today, I was setting the timing. No problems there. But, when I was snugging down the distributor clamp, the wrench popped out of my fingers. Turns out its exactly the right size to make a bridge between the engine block and the power terminal on the starter solenoid. Did I have the battery cable off? Of course not :nono:. The wrench wasn't quite spot welded to the solenoid terminal, but it sure tried to.

Now I just get the clicking sound that I interpret as a fried solenoid. I jsut ordered a replacement form our hosts - so I'll know more in a couple days if that is the only thing I broke. All the other electrics are working fine - which I would have expected.

Absent a working solenoid and without pulling the starter, is there any way to test to see if I damaged the starter itself? Is this even likely in this situation?

Thanks

[4flattires]

You can apply a battery jumper cable directly to the starter power lug.

I suggest ignition off of course, and plugs out to ease the load. DONT make the final connection at the battery, keep those sparks down at the starter. No fuel leaks should be present, safety glasses are to be in place and frosty beverages should be out of reach.

You can pull your positive lead from the battery if you want to ensure no other electrical gremlins are introduced. Your just going from batt + to starter + to test.

[rbonnett]

You can apply a battery jumper cable directly to the starter power lug.

I suggest ignition off of course, and plugs out to ease the load. DONT make the final connection at the battery, keep those sparks down at the starter. No fuel leaks should be present, safety glasses are to be in place and frosty beverages should be out of reach.

You can pull your positive lead from the battery if you want to ensure no other electrical gremlins are introduced. Your just going from batt + to starter + to test.

Thanks - I'll give that a try this evening.

[Jeff Aronson]

Well, Rick, at least this time it wasn't me who dropped the wrench :).

What an awful fluke! How come you were adjusting the timing again? Didn't we do that this winter?

Jeff

[SafeAirOne]

That's some BAD luck there! Probably couldn't duplicate it in a million years! As a matter of fact, I think the only thing that could have been UNluckier was if the wrench shorted between the 2 starter lugs and caused the engine to turn over with the rover in gear and you ran yourself over!

Speaking of that, make sure the rover is in neutral/chocked if you test the starter using jumper cables, or you might end up with a new doorway on the back of your garage.

[Jim-ME]

I feel your pain. In my case I dropped the wrench on the solenoid and it hit the brake line. The resting fire was quite spectacular. I never knew that brake fluid burned like that. It was a good thing I had a fire extinguisher handy or my whole rig would have burned up. As a result I disconnect the battery every time I do anything even when changing the oil. Hope it for your sake it is just the solenoid.
Jim

[rbonnett]

Well, Rick, at least this time it wasn't me who dropped the wrench :).

What an awful fluke! How come you were adjusting the timing again? Didn't we do that this winter?

Jeff

I've been getting some pinging under load, even with higher octane gas. Also some hesitation around 2000 RPM. Plus I have a new timing light I just had to try out :p The timing was off quite a bit from where we had it in Feb. - I think there's a fine line between getting the clamp tight enough without warping it. Could be time to get a new one. It was running much better after I reset things - up until the disaster at least.

[rbonnett]

You can apply a battery jumper cable directly to the starter power lug.

I suggest ignition off of course, and plugs out to ease the load. DONT make the final connection at the battery, keep those sparks down at the starter. No fuel leaks should be present, safety glasses are to be in place and frosty beverages should be out of reach.

You can pull your positive lead from the battery if you want to ensure no other electrical gremlins are introduced. Your just going from batt + to starter + to test.

Did this - starter kicked right in. Whew! For a couple minutes I was tempted to go ahead and drive using this trick to get it started - pending getting the new solenoid installed. Then I thought better of testing the fates that way

[rbonnett]

UPS dropped off the solenoid at Noon (thanks hosts!). Less than 30 minutes later I was road testing. This went too easy - I just know something horrendous is going to happen