MELTDOWN!

[lorwood]

I think my starter has seized!

66 Mustang would not start!
Placed battery on trickle charger.
Wait for full charge.
Go to start car.
Smoke from starter!
Smoke from solonoid!
Melted battery cables!!!
Completly new charging system.
Old starter.
:arg:

Any ideas?

Thanks Ed

 

[CoupeBoy]

take the starter off and have it tested at a repair shop (normally free), then buy a new one and probably a starter solenoid and try again? If the starter is toast then it's toast time to move on and get a new/rebuilt one.

If it melted just the battery cables between the battery and the starter you pretty much know its the starter. Had it melted portions of your wiring harness then the problem may be elsewhere but this seems pretty straight forward.

-ron

 

[Lazy JW]

If the engine still turns over by hand then it's the starter or the main cable from the solenoid has shorted to ground. At any rate you need new cables and solenoid.
Joe

 

[lorwood]

Thanks!

The engine still turns and the damage is confined to the battery cables. Guess a trip to autozone is in order.


Boy is the Wife gonna kill me!

 

[FrankBoss]

starter is probley the true issue.

Frank

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

its not hard to bench-test the starter yourself, simply pull it out and place it in a vise (firm enough to hold it but not hard enough to crush it), and apply battery power. if it spins up, its serviceable, if it don't, then it aint. i have also used a pair of gloves instead of a vise it this is more convenient, in which case you're best off to thouroughly hook up the hot wire and simply push the body of the starter against the battery's ground post.
saves you a trip to the store anyway