Calling at Electrical Gurus

[mustangmatt]

I rebuilt the motor and tranny in my 66 and the electrical problem that I have been blowing off finally came to a head.

When I tried to start the car it will not start by the key, when I started it at the solonoid(sp?) the starter would stay on, and the ground strap from the engine to the frame would burn up/get really hot and smoke.

So I broke down and replaced all the engine bay harnesses(alternator/engine/headlight-voltage regulator) That fixed all but one of the problems the ground strap from the engine to the frame still smokes. What am I missing??? I need to get this thing running for a three day show this weekend. Any advice would be great.

 

[mdjay]

Sounds like a possible bad starter...

You somehow are going open to ground.

Take a close look at the starter wire from the solenoid as well. Make sure it's not grounding onto the exhaust or something.

I would be very careful until I got this resolved. You could burn it up...

 

[mustangmatt]

The starter problem is fixed. The ground on the engine to the frame is the problem now. But I had heard that high heat= high resistence and high resistence equals a bad connection. So maybe I just need to clean the two connections or try a different spot.

 

[rbohm]

it sounds like you have a bad solenoid. replace that and likely your problem goes away.

 

[grego37]

me too
sounds like a bad solenoid. stuck in the on/start position.
Replace it, or if you're away from home ,you can usually give it a safe whack with a hammer to un-stick it.

 

[thehueypilot]

Check to make sure your battery cable (negative cable) has a good connection to the engine block. If your main ground is not to the engine block the starter will seek a ground path from the block to the firewall ground strap which is way too small to handle 200+ amps.

 

[hungrymonkey]

Make sure you have the neg from battery going to the block, then a big ground from the block to the frame.

plus, ,like everyone else said. Your solenoid is stuck. Sometimes if you try to start the car with minimal juice (or bad connections) The solenoid contacts will weld themselves together inside the solenoid. allowing a constant flow through it.

I would guess that the neg cable is smoking because it has more resistance in it due to whatever reason. It builds up heat faster than the other cables.

thats what I would check at least.

 

[whwright]

Does the ground strap get hot all the time, or only when you crank the engine?

 

[Dorsai]

Solenoid is bad, or Starter is bad, or Gound attachment points are not clean enough to make a good connection. In that order. My moneys on the Soleniod.

 

[hungrymonkey]

bringing back the dead?