Well, put the new lock cylinder in, inserted the key, my heart racing... turn the key and get

CLICK

So I'm back to the click thing... what the heck?

I guess I'll just have to get an auto electrician, I just don't know how to find electrical problems.

 

Ugh, well I had my sister turn the key to start so I could test the voltage between battery negative and the starter solenoid "S" post. I got the standard "click" noise and read 5 volts both in the run and start position. She left but kept the key in the run position for probably a minute, then I started to smell smoke and then saw it coming from the voltage regulator, so I quickly disconnected the negative from the battery and took the key out.

Now I am even more lost. Is my NEW voltage regulator bad? Is something overloading the regulator? UGH

 

we have the exact same problem. whatever it is.
Today I am going to buy new solenoid and regulator. I will update you on any changes.

 

Really your voltage regulator smokes too? Please tell me one or both of those fixes your problem.

If you can, try fixing one of them at a time.. it would save me about $40 if I only had to replace one of them. But if you want to do it all at once then that's fine with me.

 

Okay I have the parts. I also bought a new relay to starter cable. Also I am rigging up a new connection to the voltage regulator as I believe my previous connection to it was not solid. I will let you know how it works later tonight after I finish.
Canary can you send me a photo of your regulator connection? I want to compare it to what I have. Maybe our problem has to do with how we connected it. Or it could be the alternator connection. Maybe we reconnected them wrong or something after rebuild because I had a rebuilt too. I will get my pictures of later.
EDIT okay just looking at how the previous guy did it I think my problem is the voltage regulator and alternator. This is just a guess. It might take me till tomorrow to MacGyver something up. Photos would still be nice
NEW EDIT: Check your ground wire from your starter and your ground wire from the alternator. Let me know about those. I think we are getting all the built up electricity which in turn gets forced back to the solenoid/regulator because of grounding issues if that is at all possible.

 

That's what I'm thinking too.. the electricity is building up in the regulator and getting hot. I might pull that thing off and really make sure I have a clean surface to ground it on. Probably do the same with the solenoid.

 

Wow, I started cleaning my ground wires and noticed the ground wire that connects the starter to the firewall has insulation that is flaking apart.

I don't know what this wire does (doesn't the starter ground to the engine just by mounting?), but I definitely need a replacement. Anyone know what this wire is called?

Edit: It's called an engine to firewall ground strap cable. Does it ground the starter, the engine, or the firewall?

 

O.K. You guys have covered a lot lately but, I think you are putting too much thought into it. Let me see if I can explain it simply. This is a very simple circuit, don't overthink it.

First of all, electricity doesn't "build up" waiting for a place to go. Get that out of your head. Second, the ground strap from the engine to the firewall is just to connect everything to the same "side" of the circuit and make a better ground for the starter. Remember, the motor mounts are rubber and don't conduct very well.

Now, there are 2 parts to this circuit. You have the "power" side, which would be thru the pos batt cable to the relay, the relay, and the big cable to the starter. (also, the starter grounds to the engine thru the case) Note: if you can jump from the pos cable to the S term; (and it cranks)this side of the circuit is good. (let's call this, circuit A)

Next, you have the "control" side of the circuit. This is the smaller (wire)side of the ckt that includes power to the ignition switch and on to the relay, S term.(We'll say this is circuit B)

The idea is that there is a full 12 volts to the starter, but the circuit is "broken" at the relay. In order to complete the circuit and crank the motor, we supply another 12v to the S term. This pulls a copper washer down to connect the 2 side of the relay, resulting in an audible "click". Normally, you don't hear it though if the motor is turning.

Canary, you have 2 issues but, they are directly related I believe. You do not have 12v at the S term in start position, and you also still have voltage there in the run position. (very bad) If voltage is still there in run, it will cause ckt A to stay "on" and continue to crank the starter after motor is running.

Does that help any? Try unplugging the regulator and see what happens. This is getting long so, I'll think of more later.

 

Yea well I for one am not ashamed to admit I am an electrical idiot but I do not have the cash to pay an auto electrician to do it either.
Thanks Stepman. Are you saying you do not need the voltage regulator connected to run the car?
Also I found this online. It might interest you Canary. http://www.type2.com/bartnik/starter.htm

 

I suck at electrical also, but this is pretty much the first time I have had such a problem.

Thank you Stepman, your post was very informative and I wanted to keep reading on and on. I do have 5V or so at the S term at both RUN and START positions. But I replaced the ignition switch already and get the same thing. Can you think of what I should test to solve the problem?

I can jump the positive cable to the S term and crank the engine.

But I have the same question as Flash about the voltage regulator.