can water soaked starter cause engine stop

[christianlarsen]

im having trouble with a mopar perf. starter on my 69 charger/440. The starter has been soaked in water due to a faulty frost-cap and possibly shorted.

I fixed the short (possibly), then the starter was barely able to start the engine (cranking much slower than normal), then i drove about 200 yards and engine just died like I turned it off (no hikups no misssounds) and then the starter couldn't crank at all. When trying to turn it on, it smells like it is shorted inside and produces plastlike smelly smoke. Wires looks unharmed so Im assuming its from the starter itself. Can a short or malfunctioning starter stop the engine when the engine is started and running fine ?

[flyinlow]

Yes , a short can cause the ignition not to work.

A starter that gets soaked in water or oil can have its insulation in the windings and armature damaged  and cause shorts or rubbing when the starter is operating. It could possibly cause the solenoid to stick. If there was a high current drain after starting when the ignition runs thru a ballast resistor and the high draw dropped the electrical system voltage enough, it could cause the control box to drop out and kill the engine.

[christianlarsen]

Thanx flyinlow for your insights!
Im gonna replace the starter and make sure its better protected from water by wrapping it with insulation, hopefully preventing this ever happening again.

[john108]

Just a thought.  I has a water pump freeze/jam and it killed the engine and it wouldn't crank.