Ok I have an 82 diesel silverado. The old starter went bad so I replaced the starter and solenoid. Went to crank it up and it just clicked and then there was a horrible smell. I checked all my battery and solenoid connections and everything looked tight. I have no clue what else could cause this... now every time I go to turn the engine over it does nothing and just smells... also the solenoid is VERY VERY VERY hot. Thanks in advance... Jimmy

Try turning engion over by hand at the crank pully --it might be hydrolocked

Well with the old starter it would turn the engine SLOWLY and when i went to replace this one it just clicked...

Welcome to the forum! :welcome:

I know you say that you checked all of you battery connections, but it definitely sounds like a connection. The clicking and the smell both fit with that. The smell generally comes from the arcing that occurs at a loose connection...

There are connections at the batteries, at the junction block (passenger side on the radiator support next to the radiator under a white plastic cover), at the solenoid, by the alternator on the alternator bracket on the passenger side of the engine, and on the driver's side of the engine by the intake (these last two are ground connections).

Don't just look at the connections... Loosen them up and look for corrosion. Sometimes just taking them off and putting them back on again is enough to clean the connections up, other times you have to clean the connection with a wire brush.

Hope this helps! :)

Yes, you might even have to upgrade the connections at the battery. On my vehicle I had to do this because the bolts on my batteries weren't holding the cables on tight enough, so I upgraded to some connectors that attached to the top post and allowed the already existing scre-in cables to screw into them. If that didn't make sense, then the battery cables used to screw into the side of the batteries, but now they screw into a connector that attaches to the top post. It cranked a little slow (and would frequently just click instead of starting, but I never noticed a smell becuase I only tried it for like half a second) before I did the upgrade, but after I did the upgrade it cranked like brand new.

I know its a pain, but I would pull the starter and make sure its working on the floor first. might've been a bad starter or solenoid to begin with.

Ok thanks for all the input guys... first off.. every connection I removed I took a wire brush to because it did have corrosion on it... it clicked once and now it doesnt click but still has the same smell... could it be that i need to put a spacer or something between the starter and the block? It almost seemed like it got bound. I'm gonna pull the starter off later today and check to make sure it is working.... thanks for all the input!


BTW 4DR4X4 where in tennessee are you from? I'm in the Knoxville area...

If it is a re manufactured starter it is possible that it is defective , (shorting out on the inside) .

I"m in Chattanooga.

Well, at this point I think 4DR4X4 is correct. Dropping the starter and bench testing it would be a good idea. Sounds like it may be defective if all the connections are good...

Make sure your batteries are not dead. If the batts went dead it would have enough to click but not turn.

Wow.. fixed the problem and after setting for awhile she fired right up... I had a wire going to the big post on the solenoid that was broken inside the insulation... thanks for all the help guys...

Good you found it. Just as a tip for others its always a good idea to bench test your starter before installation because it really sucks to put a new one in and find that it was defective. speaking from experience.