Starter relay replacement

[geoffb]

I'm pretty confident the starter relay is acting up.  I can hear it pick up when I push to start, but often the starter motor doesn't turn.  I've put a meter on battery posts when trying to start and can see the starter motor isn't pulling any current.  So, pretty sure the main contacts on the relay are about done for. 

Sourced what is supposed to be the correct, current part from Lamar.  I've gone so far as to look up in the copilot footwell at the relay and cringed.  Before I wedge myself up in there, any gotchas I need to know?

Thanks in advance

[N201MKTurbo]

The easiest way is to remove the right radio rack. It is not as hard as it sounds.

I would do some more troubleshooting before I did any of that. I would connect your meter to the big wire that goes to the starter and crank it and see if you have any voltage there. If you have voltage there, you have a bad starter, not a bad relay.

[Z W]

I believe removing the copilot seats, front and rear, might be easier than removing the right radio rack, depending on your panel setup. Makes it easy to lay on your back on the floor and reach the starter relay. Your legs can lay up into the rear of the plane where the rear seat goes. Not too bad under there that way.

[Ragsf15e]

5 hours ago, geoffb said:

I'm pretty confident the starter relay is acting up.  I can hear it pick up when I push to start, but often the starter motor doesn't turn.  I've put a meter on battery posts when trying to start and can see the starter motor isn't pulling any current.  So, pretty sure the main contacts on the relay are about done for. 

Sourced what is supposed to be the correct, current part from Lamar.  I've gone so far as to look up in the copilot footwell at the relay and cringed.  Before I wedge myself up in there, any gotchas I need to know?

Thanks in advance

Definitely check voltage at the starter first as @N201MKTurbosuggested. To do this I disconnected the big wire at the starter and had my wife crank it while I held the VM.  There’s a troubleshooting guide for Continental starters (I think, or maybe it’s a Concorde battery one) which has you measure at the battery like you did and at the starter while cranking.  It supposed to be something like 24V (edit, min at starter is 20v, see below) minimum at the starter.  That’s from memory.  After I checked all this, I realized my problem was the starter adapter which really sucked.

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

Definitely check voltage at the starter first as @N201MKTurbosuggested. To do this I disconnected the big wire at the starter and had my wife crank it while I held the VM.  There’s a troubleshooting guide for Continental starters (I think, or maybe it’s a Concorde battery one) which has you measure at the battery like you did and at the starter while cranking.  It supposed to be something like 24V minimum at the starter.  That’s from memory.  After I checked all this, I realized my problem was the starter adapter which really sucked.

@geoffb, I found my reference.  It’s from skytech.  Supposed to get minimum 20v at the starter.  Here’s a link to the troubleshooting guide…

https://skytec.aero/aircraft-starter-performance-issues/

[geoffb]

Thank you