Smoking starter solenoid wire while cranking

Sometimes the car starts just fine and other times it cranks slowly (as if the battery is dying) and smoke starts coming from the wire connecting the positive terminal on the battery and the starter solenoid.

Does this indicate a faulty starter or a faulty wire? I recently cleaned all of my grounds. Battery is in good shape. Starter is old and the starter clutch makes that sneezing sound when starting from time to time.

Lubricate the starter and that may help matters.

Which part of the starter do I lube up? Do I have to open it up?

wizard_of_koz said:

Which part of the starter do I lube up? Do I have to open it up?

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Not only open it up, but remove it from the engine.

While you have it off, clean everything. Clean the black carbon off of the armature and get the old grease out of the planetary gear set (if there's any left).

Before all that, make sure the cables are tight and clean. Loose battery cable to the starter can cause quite a voltage drop and that'll both make the loose connection get very hot, but also the starter motor will get very hot.

If that is not it, then take it all apart, clean between the bars on the commutator with a dental pick, and either file the contacts in the solenoid (if you can get it apart) or put a new solenoid on it for $20. Grease up the reduction gears and use a hypodermic needle to put grease in the sealed bearings. Get the needle and syringe at the farm store in the veterinary supply section. Voila, rebuilt starter for the cost of some grease and time (and a solenoid if you need to replace it)

I put in a professionally rebuilt starter and still having the same problem. :S

wizard_of_koz said:

)))))))))))) and smoke starts coming from the wire .................

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That's normally a bad or undersized wire. It must be corroded or has bad ends

All contacts were thoroughly cleaned again. I will go get a wire right now. The wire from the positive terminal seems in good condition. The ground wire on the other hand has some corrosion at the ground point underneath the battery.

My ac compressor is in really bad shape (sounds like a bucket of bolts). Is it possible that this is adding too much resistance?

Also how do you crank the engine over with a wrench. I want to try this to rule out a seized engine.

Take your voltmeter.

Put one probe on your - battery post (on the post, not the terminal clamp)
Put the other probe on your engine, any exposed metal will work. Valve cover is easily accessible.
Put it to volts DC, range is whichever will give you the most resolution reading 0-10V.
Crank it and watch the volt meter. If it reads more than 0.5V you've found the issue. Move the probes around to rule out connections and pinpoint where the resistance is.

If it is under 0.5V dropped, then stick one probe on the + post, and then the other on the starter solenoid's output cable to the starter motor, same 0.5V rule and again move the probes around to pinpoint where the drop is.

No, your engine is not seeized ;-). You can remove the serpentine belt to eliminate any issues in this system, such as a partially seized ac compressor. Apart from the other solutions offered, your starter may simply be pulling to much current due to too heavy a load. Or you are cranking too long trying to start it.

Turns out it is the ac compressor . It is fairly well seized. Totally sent me on a wild goose chase. The mechanics I consulted said that if the ac compressor seized then the serpentine belt would snap. That is not the case. Glad the mystery is solved, thank you for your help guys. Now time to swap the ac compressor

About two years ago I did a timing belt on a client's BXE (BRM). Took it for a test drive, stopped to buy something, got into the car, started it, drove 50m, died. Didn't want to crank, but starter tried its best, smoking, imagine my stress... Thinking screwed up timing belt job. Well, the compressors's pulley bearing was seized solid. These serpentine belts are strong, and I'll think they will in any case rather slip than snap. Saying that, good idea to replace your serpentine belt now.