Hi- I am trying to crowdsource diagnostic suggestions. My wife's Pacifica started emitting a burning smell (almost electrical) I pulled over and turned off the car. Popped the hood and some white smoke drifted up from the passenger side, from the area where the alternator and starter is. Visually, nothing looks burned. No fried wires. When I try to start it, it may turn over a slow half-rotation and thats all. Sometimes just a click noise (not the click-click-click from a dead solenoid switch although it could be). I made a video of the engine. Maybe it looks familiar to someone before I just start randomly replacing the starter.


Thanks in advance!
-SimplyMarkB

 

Never have worked on a 4.0 but believe it is very similar to the 3.5 which I have replaced several starters. To get the starter out you will need to pull the front most exhaust manifold and the front most engine mount. After that the starter is pretty easy to R&R. The solenoid is built onto the starter, there are two (2) wires going to the starter: a solenoid control wire to "start" the engine along with the big "+" cable coming from the battery. Check out thoroughly the "+" cable going back to battery and starter. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

I would make sure the coolant and oil are good a starter would not let the smoke out unless it was being used and its not used when the car is driving. I would see if you can turn the engine over by hand freely by the crankshaft bolt.

 

How old is the battery and what condition is it in? Possibly the alternator was working overtime to compensate for a failing battery. A failed/weak battery may will not be able to start/turn-over the motor. The battery should read at least 12.2 volts (12.4+ is better). Have you tried to jump-start with another battery?