Last week the starter circuit blew the 15 amp fuse, so I put another 15 amp fuse in and all was well again. Then a couple of days ago while trying to leave the restaurant it blew again. So then I put in another fuse from another location in the fuse panel, it was a 20 amp fuse and we were headed home when the car died at about 35 mph. This allowed us to coast to a safe spot out of traffic. But it would not start again so Hagerty and a roll back tow truck to the rescue. The 15 amp fuse has been working since August 2013 when I bought the starter.
If you look at the circuit drawing, there is only the starter solenoid and a relay in the circuit. Other TBucket owners can't believe that I have 21 circuits, they only have 12 or less, well this is why. It makes trouble shooting easy when there is only two devices in the circuit, it could ONLY be the relay or the starter. Kinda narrows it done don't you think!
Then I checked continuity between the small terminal (Labeled Ignition by Powermaster) and ground after removing the yellow wire I got zero ohms. I have to qualify that, it was zero initially, but then it would increase to .2 to .4 ohms. I called Tech Support at Powermaster and he said that was OK, but he could explain why it changed over time, but Engineering could. He said I could send it in and there is no charge for labor, only parts.
Later I decided to call back and talk to engineering, I got Dave. Now both guys were very nice and were trying to help. Dave thought it might be the relay contacts becoming and pitted and the resistance going up, which didn't make sense to me since that would limit current. He said that slows down the starter and makes the current draw last longer. Every fuse has a graph that show time vs current, it's not just about the current only. Ever heard of a slow-blow fuse???
My wiring will handle up to 40 amps at 1o feet since I wired it with a 12 gauge wire, so I installed a 30 amp fuse and that worked. Food for thought!
I didn't want to be without the TBucket for 2 weeks while the starter traveled to Powermaster and back during the summer driving months, so I went online to find out more about this starter. It's basically a Nippon Denso starter with a clocking mount added. See the YouTube video below, that's what I did to see what I was up against. I decided to pull it apart, inspect, clean and lubricate. I found one bearing that was a little rough, but nothing major. I pulled the seal, cleaned and packed it with Lithium Grease, then I re-installed the seal. It could wait until this winter when I was not driving the TBucket to return it to Powermaster. Then I installed the starter to see how the circuit performed.
After going thru the steps in the video, I re-installed the starter and installed a 20 amp fuse. That worked, so I installed a 15 amp fuse. That worked, so I installed a 7.5 amp fuse and that worked also.
Problem solved ..... for now !!!
Now for the photos and YouTube videos ......
Overview of the outside before disassembly.
.
If you look at the circuit drawing, there is only the starter solenoid and a relay in the circuit. Other TBucket owners can't believe that I have 21 circuits, they only have 12 or less, well this is why. It makes trouble shooting easy when there is only two devices in the circuit, it could ONLY be the relay or the starter. Kinda narrows it done don't you think!
Then I checked continuity between the small terminal (Labeled Ignition by Powermaster) and ground after removing the yellow wire I got zero ohms. I have to qualify that, it was zero initially, but then it would increase to .2 to .4 ohms. I called Tech Support at Powermaster and he said that was OK, but he could explain why it changed over time, but Engineering could. He said I could send it in and there is no charge for labor, only parts.
Later I decided to call back and talk to engineering, I got Dave. Now both guys were very nice and were trying to help. Dave thought it might be the relay contacts becoming and pitted and the resistance going up, which didn't make sense to me since that would limit current. He said that slows down the starter and makes the current draw last longer. Every fuse has a graph that show time vs current, it's not just about the current only. Ever heard of a slow-blow fuse???
My wiring will handle up to 40 amps at 1o feet since I wired it with a 12 gauge wire, so I installed a 30 amp fuse and that worked. Food for thought!
I didn't want to be without the TBucket for 2 weeks while the starter traveled to Powermaster and back during the summer driving months, so I went online to find out more about this starter. It's basically a Nippon Denso starter with a clocking mount added. See the YouTube video below, that's what I did to see what I was up against. I decided to pull it apart, inspect, clean and lubricate. I found one bearing that was a little rough, but nothing major. I pulled the seal, cleaned and packed it with Lithium Grease, then I re-installed the seal. It could wait until this winter when I was not driving the TBucket to return it to Powermaster. Then I installed the starter to see how the circuit performed.
After going thru the steps in the video, I re-installed the starter and installed a 20 amp fuse. That worked, so I installed a 15 amp fuse. That worked, so I installed a 7.5 amp fuse and that worked also.
Problem solved ..... for now !!!
Now for the photos and YouTube videos ......
Overview of the outside before disassembly.
.
