What would cause smoke from ebrake (No start)

[CivicEater]

I finally got the car running, I was driving for the last two days and when the batt was put in I didnt notice that the power cabel to the positive was rubbing on the power steering tube and it rubbed through and cut my battery out driving down the road. I noticed what was the problem so I taped up the cable good and moved it out of the way. then it started right up.....I went in the house came out 15 mins later to start and no start. I popped the hood and saw that the ground by the battery was loose. I tigtened it and it was good to go. well everytime after that I woudl park and try and start it within 20 minutes and this is what happens....
I get in turn on acc...everything is ffine all things come on....then go to start and everything goes dark and if I hold it there within a few seconds smoke will start to come from the e-brake hole.....it will stop if I release the key. Problem doesnt happen on acc. If I let it sit for 20 mins it starts no problems, no smoke.....what the hell is going on?

 

[TMC]

I'd say it's a short somewhere that is using the ebrake cable as a fuse. Just a guess though. Look around for an electrical problem that your not seeing.

 

[CivicEater]

Know anywhere inparticular to look I suck at electrical stuff.....I did a search over the engine bay and didnt notice anything out of the oridinary....

 

[maypo59]

Raise the car and have a look, although I cant think of anything electrical under the car in that area.. if the cable is conducting electricity from somewhere I would look in the area of the fuel pump power leads... Only thing I can think of thats back there in any waybut the short point would have to be IN the car if you see smoke in the car, as the cable goes through a grommet. . I would pull out the center console and check under there for a spot that looks like power is going to ground...

 

[cjones]

does it do it in the ON position or just the START position??

if just the start position then i would have a buddy look at the starter while you try cranking the engine to see if he sees smoke at the starter or harness.

 

[Car Nut]

I had smoke come through my e-brake handle area when my starter was going bad. Actually, I ended up replacing my battery, alternator, and starter, because all of them were going bad. It freaked me out to see smoke INSIDE my car, let alone anywhere else. Once the starter was tested and failed, it was replaced and it never happened.

I have had grounding issues for the past couple years that would ALWAYS happen after washing my engine bay. Soon after, I would have serious trouble starting my car and sometimes it would not start. I found out that I had to diconnect the ground cable from the engine block and clean the connection real well (I used sandpaper to clean the bolt, nut, and wire lead). After the cleaning job, my car started up perfectly. Instead of replacing the whole negative/ground connections, I went to an Autozone and bought the same guage grounding wire. I attached this extra wire alongside the negative wire connection on the battery and also to a ground connection on the body (in front of the battery and to the right of the radiator). No problems since and I've washed my engine bat at least three or four times since.

You may not have this exact problem, but it just sounds too similar to mine. Just like you, for a while, I had no idea when my car would start or when it would give me trouble.

Good luck.

 

[CivicEater]

I think it is my starter becuase I had a friend tap it for dead spots today and it started right up. Then it stranded me on the way home I am gonna pull it tomorow hopefully......How hard is it to pull the starter? Haynes says just two bolts and it should be 10 mins, but the top bolt looks impossible to get to....any tips?

 

[chaos254]

i just bought one from autozone and had a shop change it. I tried doing it myself but I couldn't get the top bolt loose. The shop only charged me $50 so it wasn't too bad.