my fuel shut off solenoid keeps catching on fire
 

in my 96 my fuel shut off solenoid has cached on fire 2 now the first was the stock one and the second was new only had it like 3 days any one know why

check the harness which it plugs into, make sure it's all clean in there. corrosion could cause arching and extra heat leading to fire. and along with this, maybe grab a volt meter and check the harness terminals. have someone help you buy turning the key for you and make sure your not getting excess volts flowing through there. could be a loose connection on the back of the harness.

also there are two big relays right above it check those and make sure they are not bad the dodge dealership told me that's why mine blew up so i just put a switch in to keep it from happening again

I'm not too sure if they are the same as the type we use on our old Deere equipment or not. If they are, there is a pull in coil, and a hold in coil. If the linkage isn't properly adjusted the hold in coil is over worked. Are there 3 wires to the solenoid, or two?

there is three I heard from several people though that those relays above it shorting out are a main cause for it

Likely your starter contacts are sticking and backfeeding 12V to your solenoid. Replace your starter contacts and your problem will likely be solved. Get the supersized contacts from Larry B. They also have a diode that will prevent you from burning up your solenoid.

Check it out:

LarryB's Dodge starting problems solved here.

ok thanks guys i just put a choke cable in it for now and works good might just keep it if i cant figure it out

Can you use a multimeter well? If so, back probe the connection to seee where power is, and when

Im telling you its your starter contacts. Pull the starter and look at them. I can pretty much guarantee you that one of the contacts will be paper thin.

I've never looked at a Dodge/Cummins SOV, but assume they are the same as any other. 3 wires, one for pull in that gets power from the start circuit, another for the hold in that is ignition power, and the last for a ground?

The fuel shutoff solenoid is actually two solenoids in one. One coil is very strong to pull the linkage open when you hit the starter to let fuel flow. This first coil produces lots of heat and is intended for short use. The second coil is smaller and has just enough power to hold the solenoid open for running. It does not build up heat like the stronger coil.

The stronger coil is wired in with the starter so when you hit the starter the fuel solenoid opens and the engine starts. When you let the key return to the run position only the second smaller coil is needed to hold the solenoid open.

When the worn starter contacts hang and stick closed the stronger first coil stays energized along with the starter. This causes heat buildup after a short time and can actually catch fire if the battery isn't disconnected quickly.

is there a way to wire it up so just the littel coil works not the big one

no. What part of replace your starter contacts is not understandable to you? Its an easy job

That or you can install a manual shutoff

The small coil isn't strong enough to pull the coil in. You could do what you suggest if you want to pop your hood and manually pull the coil in by hand every time you want to start the truck. Other option would be to wire in a switch to the pull in wire, and turn it off once your trucks running. At this point, you've done almost as much work as changing the starter contacts.

just run you some high quality cabile that you can push and pull to turn the fuel on and off i got mine done at a shop and it cost me 50 bucks and fixed the problem for good

thats what i have now and works great but if it was an easy fix i was going to go ahead and do it

well check those two relays also that I was talking about above the solenoid that are pretty big i took mine in got them tested and they were blow and i was told that's what caused it on my truck

Is the selective hearing turning off Dr. Evil? He's right dude, its the starter contacts. I had it happen on my 97... But on mine it blew the fuse for the ECM, Gauges, and SOS. Had to tie it up with a piece of wire to get it home and fix it.