Just a whole lot of 1845c babbling...

[phil314]

So I've had an intermittent starting issue with my 1845c for a while. At first is was just an occasional click and no crank, but as time passed, it became more frequent. I read about people adding external solenoids and several possible causes. It eventually reached the point where it was more clicking than cranking and starting. Something had to be done.

So instead of adding an external relay. I decided to rebuild the one on the starter. Turns out they use the same Denso starters as 89-06 dodge trucks. So I got a kit with the big contacts for a dodge truck.
https://www.genosgarage.com/product/lb-r90ss/engine-rebuild-kits-3
Fit perfect, but unfortunately it didn't fix my problem. But I figure I'd pass it along in case it helps someone else.



So the next thing I decided to try was the ignition switch itself. I was a bit skeptical of this, but I couldn't find anything else that seemed wrong. And this was cheap and easy. 2 of my favorite things. Well, it was night and day. It would crank and start every single time with the new switch. Old one must have just been worn out inside. I was a bit shocked, but also very happy to have a reliable machine again.

A few months pass and we get to today. I turn the key. I get a 1/2 a crank and nothing. I've noticed that the machine has been turning over a bit slow lately. But I doesn't 'click' in my head at the time. Not until today. Maybe the battery is getting old. Lets see, I put the last one in when? Dang I can't even remember. That probably means it's time for a new one. So I pull the old one out and the sticker on it says - 11/03. DOH! Yeah, maybe a new battery will help. Toss in a new battery and she spins like a top and fires right up.

 

[DIYDAVE]

Yep key switches are often overlooked. They wear particularly fast if the key ring attached to them, has more than 2 0r 3 other keys on it...

 

[D&H Handymen]

Hello all. New member working on a customers ,Case 1845C that does the infamous “click, but no turn” starter issue. I’m retired Army. Worked as a helicopter electrician/ avionics systems repairer... Anyway. Customer says having this issue. So I go to them. Says, I don’t know what’s wrong, my grandson just put a new starter and a thicker wire from the start switch to the starter, replaced the starter, and it’s doing the same thing. I’m sure it’s a shorted wire. I ask where the old starter is, core return. So I do the start process and shut it off and try restart, click, click, click. Hook up my trusty Fluke multimeter red to the starter and ground on the alternator. Turn the key and ever so slight voltage drop (12.8v to 12.6v). Solenoid isn’t connecting 12v from battery to starter windings. I pop the solenoid cover off and copper looks nice, but the battery side (in) and the starter windings (out) have two different pieces, not the same shape or form. Also, the contactor doesn’t have near as many transfer spots as it should. I pulled the thin contactor spring out and pushed the contactor down... it only makes contact with the winding side (out). So I removed them and measured the thickness of the battery and winding contacts. Battery side 0.1168”; Winding side 0.1198”. Last time I checked electricity doesn’t like gaps in connections. Another thing I noticed on these in/out contacts... the mounting holes are oblong?!
Could all this be the problem? Yes, Yes it is. That was a rhetorical statement. I sanded the “out” side down to 0.1168 reinstalled them, insuring they were all the way up in their oblong holes. Now I get continuity across the contactor. Hope someone saves a dime on a Case 1845C starter, thick wire or whatever bubblegum and bailing wire fix used in the past!