The starter in my 1986 240DL SW stays energized after the car is started. It does not engage but you can hear it turning. It started on a trip. I hit a bump on the freeway and the noise began. It sounded like the water pump bearing was bad. I got off the freeway checked the water pump, power steering pump, alternator etc., and there were no signs of trouble then it stopped by itself. Drove home the last 100 miles with no problems. Two days later, on the way home from work the problem reared it ugly head again. By the time I got home the starter was shot. I replaced the starter and it is still doing the same thing. The car starts, the starter disengages, but still continues to run. Is there a relay in the circuit somewhere that could be stuck? I don't see enything in the wiring diagram. The car has been sitting in my shop for a month now and I want to get it back on the road. It took 6 days to locate the new starter and I really don't want to burn this one up. Can somebody help?

 

Check the wiring harness for bare wires. It will be by the firewall. Could also be a bad electrical part of the ignition switch.

 

Found a large junction block near the top center of the firewall. There are 4 wires that run to it from a harness that comes out of the firewall on the passenger side. The remainder of the harness runs downward between the intake manifold and contains a connection to the starter. It appears to also contain the lead to the positive battery terminal. The 4 wires going to the junction block are all cracked and bare from age. The colors are red, black, yellow and yellow with a blue stripe. The outgoing wires are the same colors and appear to be in good condition. Could I be getting close?

 

I would tape up all the bare wires. Follow back as far as you can and tape them up and see if it happens again.

Im not 100% sure but I think the Yellow and blue go to the starter.

 

I've peeled back the harness cover about 4 inches. The wires look pretty bad, broken strands, brittle. I'm going to separate them, clean them up and tape them the best I can. I'm trying not to break them all. You were right, according to the diagram the yellow and blue wire does go to the starter. If this doesn't solve my problem, at least I've taken care of something that could cause or be causing other problems. I'll let you know soon what the results are. I really appreciate your help.

 

normally the solenoid goes forward and then the starter turns. If it is turning without the solenoid energized then check the two big connections on the solenoid. Starter motor goes to one, battery cable to the other. they should not touch. Ign switch goes to third (little). Power to rest of car comes from battery cable connection to jct on firewall.

 

First things first. I separated, reinsulated and taped up the four wires that were bared, now the starter does not crank enough to start the car. The car cranks but it almost sounds as if the battery is weak, although it is showing over 12 volts on a meter, although not under load. The speedometer bounces when trying to start it now, where it didn't before, and the car would start before. As to the selonoid, there is only one big connection to the selonoid other than the connection to the starter. Two wires go to the large terminal and one wire goes to the horizantally placed connection at the bottom of the selonoid. There are two vertical posts on the selonoid which are not used. This is how I found it when I removed the starter, it worked fine then and I don't suppose that it was incorrectly hooked up to begin with. It seems the more I fix it the worse it gets. Any more thoughts???

 

Double check the wiring. The speedo bouncing sounds like a wire shorting out. When you went over and fixed them they might have gotten worse down the line.

See what the voltage is on the battery when you are cranking it. Also try jump starting it and see if it will start.

 

GOT IT STARTED!!!!! Charged the battery, the car starts, and the starter at this point is not running! More work to do, but it's cold and the Bengals are on. Thanks to all. I'll let you know. Any thing I can help with, I'm here.

 

OK, road tested the car tonight after work and it is running fine right now. Am going out now to tape up the wiring harness and put everything back into place. There is just one more thing. The starter does not sound crisp and quick like the old one. It sounds like its lacking full power from the battery or maybe binding. The battery is fairly new and I put a charge on it. It took me a whole day and every wrench and combination of wrenches that I had before I figured out how to get the thing out, and even though it would be a cinch now, I really don't want to have to take it out again.

 

I would let it go for now and if something happens before a year it should be under Warranty.

You bought it either new or rebuilt correct?

 

It's rebuilt with a year warrenty, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I pulled it into the garage tonight and am planning on driving it tomorrow. Had to get it out of the shop anyway, doing brakes on the wife's car tomorrow night after work. Throw a few logs in the old Buck, heat up the shop and on to another project. Thanks for the help. If the problem was in the harness, (hope it's not one of those phantoms) and it is now solved, it's something that I would never have found. But now it's something I'll never forget.

 

LOL GOOD LUCK