> I’m surprised the “electronic fuse” in the SAM didn’t cut it off - if that’s > how they protected the circuit. Otherwise I would have expected a fuse to > blow.
Starters are un-fused. I think they always have been. Something about it being difficult to put a fuse on something that draws 1000A+ (briefly) and settles down to 200-400A during normal operation. If the starter was being fed by Grand Coulee Dam, you'd still need a fuse. But the battery feeding it will exhaust itself before it could catch the starter wiring on fire, so the primary purpose of a fuse is unnecessary. Also, depending on exactly what/where the shorts are, starter current merely goes up, as does internal heat generation, while starting torque goes down. And, if the shorts were causing the starter pinion to not engage, the massive current normally induced by the torque load on the motor is not there, so the starter's drawing much LESS current than normal. So, no fuse action even if there was one. So, attempts to make it smarter, in this case, are likely to be counterproductive. As my boss is fond of saying: "IBM". (It's Better Manually.) Don't try to automate stuff that doesn't really need it. In the case of a starter, it's pretty simple: Does it crank? If not, fix it. The diagnostic process is simple, just one current test and a couple of voltage checks and you have your culprit identified. -- Jim _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
