starter wont disengage until shut down

[bensa]

thanks for the help! i hope someone can help me, im stumpt! i should state that i have been troubleshooting this motor and have eliminated most of the "shoulda thought of that" or "i screwed up and crossed a wire" stuff\clipart{biggrin} any help would be appreciatted. the particulars, newer barr 5.7 gm in mercruiser setup. carb'd, thunderbolt type ignition. new parts- starter, solenoid, slave solenoid, ignition switch, batt. cables. all connections test out for proper continuity. all wires in proper place by schmatics. ok that being said! when the key is turned the engine will start but the starter doesnt disengage. if the key is pulled back to the "acc" position the engine continues to crank until the key is put in the "off" position. then starter will disengage and engine will shut down. upon restart attempt the same thing happens. im at wits end. the only thing that seems odd is the orange lead that goes from the starter to the altenator has contstant power even with engine down and key in off position. i also visually and meter tested all grounds for leaks. what am i missing? for the record this problem all started out of the blue with no warning, the engine ran fine then one day it got stupid! thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: starter wont disengage until shut down

Ayuh,.......

Only 1 of the Small terminals on the Starter is to Excite it,.......
It sounds like it's getting Power All the time the Key is On......
And,....
By the sounds of it,.... I'd start looking at the Key Switch, as it's Not behaving properly........

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: starter wont disengage until shut down

Ya the only thing the key switch does is tell the starter to turn. All the power comes directly from the ALT or BAT. So that's right. Its the key switch that's bad. Had the same thing happen to me.

 

[MikDee]

Re: starter wont disengage until shut down

The key switch has two functions, "key on" ignition system on,,, "key start" (spring loaded) starter is energized for cranking, there should be no power going to your starter while in the "key on" position, or you have a bad ignition switch, stuck solenoid, or a crossed wire. The orange wire I believe is the "charging wire" it takes the power from the alternator, and sends it to the battery (to charge it), probably through the starter solenoid (and it should be hot all the time), it has battery voltage in it.

 

[bensa]

Re: starter wont disengage until shut down

and the winner is, drumrolllllllllllllll, nobody!! i got frustrated and pulled the starter. believe it or not there was a piece of scrap metal(copper strand from the winding) that was, for lack of a better word, arching the slave sol. post and the acc post, thereby, giving a constant 12vlt source to the solenoid! who woulda thunk it? anyone wanna buy a new key ignition?
thanks for the insight!

 

[thrasher]

Re: starter wont disengage until shut down

Glad you found the problem, it could have been a lot worse!! We might have told you to go buy a new starter motor!! That would have cost a lot more than an ignition switch!!

Gary