97 International Am Tran T444e 7.3L. Sometimes this bus will crank 20 times and then sometimes it will do nothing. starter Rebuilt with new solenoid same result. I put a test light on the small wire on the starter solenoid and when it cranks it lights up as designed, but when it don't no light. I traced the wire back to the Ecm no grounds. The ignition switch is a few months old...any advice????
Does the bus have a deadbolt lock on the back door? Might check for issues with the starter interlock wiring to that if equipped. Also there is a crank inhibit relay amongst the relays and wiring near where the body wiring connects to the chassis wiring (to the left of the brake pedal), I had a T444E of that vintage that occasionally wouldn't crank, but if you bumped the wiring there with your left foot it would crank and not act up again for a while. Never figured that one out.
There is a large black relay usually zip tied to the harness by the steering shaft I believe the wires going to it are pink it's quite large check there first then inside the bus on the left kick panel are more relays there is a yellow one that is a delay relay those can cause you trouble also. Some starters have a thermal switch to prevent overload look into that possibly. Low voltage to the ecm can also cause a no crank it can be checked at the ecm relay on the firewall in the engine compartment. There's a lot of stuff that has to work just to make that starter spin!
There is a wiring harness running under the bus from the starter to the left side of the engine that has a 5 or 6 wire weatherpack plug. This plug tends to corrode and the wires break. You have to open up the harness a bit and unplug to see the break sometimes. This tends to cause a start...no-start problem. Have replaced many of these plugs.
T444e no power to starter solenoid sometimes
Posted - 02/23/2016 : 1:11:38 PM
