[Snowstorm]

Fired up the 411 today to move some fire wood around and then i noticed smoke and the smell of burning rubber. Quickly jumed out of the mog popped the hood to see a fire.

Well i moved pretty quick to put it out, pulled batter terminal ect.

Turned out to be the positive on the starter solinoid that heat up so much that the cable caught fire and burned the surrounding wires.

Can someone tell me why it would do this? Is it pulling to many amps or something? Is something wrong with the starter? Cables not big enough?
Looking for idea's here.
I'll need to find parts but wondering what caused this so it won't happen again.

I've never had a starter catch fire like this.

 

[mogmaner]

starter

sounds like welded contacts on the starter . hope thers not to much damage.

 

[Snowstorm]

Welded contacts, that's possible, it just burnt right through.
Why? i don't know?

Took it apart, and it just seems to be the solenoid that melted a big whole through the top cover. Other than the starter, no real damage.

Of course this happens on a saturday afternoon. I'll check monday for parts.

 

[Mogasaurus]

It's possible that connection had simply worked itself loose.

Large current through a loose connection could equal lots of heat (I squared R losses).

(edit) My Land Rover has a connection for easy jump starting that was prone to loosening up. It was a known case of several under-hood fires in that model.

 

[Big B]

I once had a cable become so corroded in the lug socket that it superheated and the insulation burnt off.

I use rosin core solder on all of them these days and haven't had another fail since.

I fish on the beach a lot and the salt water is a real problem with wire corrosion.

Never use acid core solder!