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Get a Battery Disconnect Switch! - a scary incident occurred last weekend

B

blackford

Member
I started my car to move it out of the garage and it sounded like all he** had broke loose. Turned it off and the engine kept cranking. Tried moving the ignition switch around...no change. Dang starter solenoid is frozen! :censored

What to do? What to do? Started to release the clutch and car was lurching forward...put it into neutral. Starter then began grinding against the flywheel! Jumped out of the car, grabbed a wrench, opened the hood and disconnected the negative battery cable...problem stopped

Smoke filled the engine bay from the starter and the battery cables getting so hot the insulation melted...could have started a fire if I hadn't disconnected the battery in time!

I WAS VERY FORTUNATE THAT THIS HAPPENED AT HOME AND I HAD ACCESS TO A WRENCH TO DISCONNECT THE BATTERY...MAJOR WAKEUP CALL!

GET A BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH! :thu

I really hope my flywheel is OK.
 
Glad there was no fire! I've had to use my kill switch once for a starter not disengaging.
 
Sounds pretty scary. Good thing you were home and were able to disconnect the battery. Hopefully the flywheel is ok and you can just replace the starter. Good luck
 
:confu I have heard of this a few times now, I guess it's more common than I realized. I better start thinking about putting a disconnect somewhere convenient!
 
SUM-G1439.jpg


Would be nice to have one in the car though, with the battery in the trunk it would take forever...
 
It seems like replacement solenoids are junk. Does anyone know what changed over the years to cause so many problems with them sticking? Is there a better option than the stock replacement?
 
"manley" said:
It seems like replacement solenoids are junk. Does anyone know what changed over the years to cause so many problems with them sticking? Is there a better option than the stock replacement?
Click to expand...
eliminate it and go with a mini starter?
 
its integral to the mini starter. not the repo junk everyone has problems with.

Im not using one of these:

2011-05-05_232838_86_ford_solenoid.jpg
 
with a $5 relay.

I ran it for a while without the relay, but everything i read said it was a better idea to use one.

StarterRelay.jpg
 
"Fast68back" said:
How is it wired? I have a mini starter as well, but I also have the stock solenoid.

Untitled-1copy.jpg
Click to expand...

You can use the stock solenoid. Just move the cable that goes to the starter over to the battery side of the stock solenoid and put the signal wire for the mini starter where the cable you moved over was.

Robert
 
SUM-G1439.jpg


That's what I use after having a similar incident a few years ago. Getting ready for bed and just happened to open the the door into the garage to check to see if all the lights were off and the entire garage was filled with that putrid electric/wire burning smell. Unhooked the battery and aired out the garage and went to bed. Laid there and wondered what if it had happened a few hours later or the next day. Went to NPD the next day and bought one of those disconnects and use it religiously now.
 
"70 StangMan" said:
SUM-G1439.jpg


That's what I use after having a similar incident a few years ago. Getting ready for bed and just happened to open the the door into the garage to check to see if all the lights were off and the entire garage was filled with that putrid electric/wire burning smell. Unhooked the battery and aired out the garage and went to bed. Laid there and wondered what if it had happened a few hours later or the next day. Went to NPD the next day and bought one of those disconnects and use it religiously now.
Click to expand...

That's what I have on my car too. Stupid question though, should it be on the neg or pos terminal?
 
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