Caterpillar E110B excavator starter

[LAA]

Caterpillar 3116 engine. Machine would not turn over one morning, troubleshoot and found a burnt wire on solenod, remove starter and found starter motor windings burnt internally, figured something caused power to remain on starter and burnt it up, re-wired all suspect wiring and installed new starter -- started fine, worked machine 4-5 hours, shut down for 15 minutes, would not turn over, nothing, starter felt hot to touch -- hour later starter cool -- started right up -- worked it 1 hour -- shut down and tried to start it back -- nothing -- same story -- soon as starter cooled machine cranked. I am building a heat shield for the starter to protect it from the exhaust heat but the main question I have is why did this start happening now? this is a 20 year old machine and the same style starter has always been in the same location without a heat shield, I ordered the starter through a highly reputable and experienced starter and alternator shop but I guess there could be a difference in internal insulation or design as compared to the OEM.
 

[2x4]

that engine is in the diesel in GMC TopKick trucks & a good GM dealer or repair shop may answer your questions.
 

[NCWayne]

The OEM starters aren't any different than the ones you buy elsewhere. Basically they are a Bosch, Delco, etc with an equipment OEM's sticker put on it that means you pay $500 for a $150 starter. That being said it sounds like the starter may be hanging up as you start it and causing the percieved 'heat' problem. I've seen it happen a few times over the years, for various reasons, from burrs on the flywheel ring, to shorted wires causing it to engage while the engine was running. In either case the engine turning the starter will cause it to get extreemly hot. If your lucky if will start when it cools down, if not I have seen them 'blow the windings apart' and ruin the starter.

If the problem was on a B series Cummins I could tell you exactly what to look for as I've seen a problem on them on numerous occasions where a "will fit' starter is used that doesn't fit as well as it's claimed to. On a 3116 CAT I've worked on alot of equipment with that same engine and never seen one have a the problem your experiencing due simply to engine/exhaust heat. So, check your flywheel ring for screwed up places, insure the new starter has the correct gear in the bendix as the wrong one can one to hang up. Last but not least go over the wiring again to make sure there's not a problem there causing the starter to stay engaged that way. Good luck.
 

[Dr. Walt]

Also check your ignition switch - if the switch is "hanging" in the START position & not returning to the RUN position the same symptoms would occur. I've seen this happen on several types of equipment.
 

[LAA]

I forgot to add in the original post that I ran a seperate hot and ground to the starter and ran the hot through a deadman switch in the cab, then installed a push button starter button, once started hit the deadman switch and no power to the starter at all, only thing the original ignition switch is doing now is powering up gauges and the turning motor solenod.