Wont start,puff of smoke

Here's a checklist:

Since some of the tests will bypass the safety interlocks, make sure that the car is in neutral and the parking brake is set. Becoming a pancake isn’t part of the repair process…

Check battery, terminal connections, ground, starter relay switch (also known as solenoid) and starter in that order.

A voltmeter is handy if you are familiar with how to use it to find bad connections. Measure the voltage drop across a connection: more than .5 volts across a connection indicates a problem.
See http://www.fluke.com/application_notes/automotive/circuit.asp?AGID=1&SID=103 for help


1.) Will the car start if it is jumped? Then clean battery terminals and check battery.

2.) Check the battery to engine block ground, and the ground behind the engine to the firewall.

3.) Jump the big terminals on the starter relay next to the battery with a screwdriver - watch out for the sparks! If the engine cranks, the starter and power wiring is good. The starter relay is also known as a starter solenoid.

4.) Then pull the small push on connector (red wire) off the starter relay (Looks like it is stuck on a screw). Then jump between the screw and the terminal that is connected to the battery. If it starts, the relay is good and your problem is in the rest of the circuit.

5.) Remember to check the ignition switch, neutral safety switch on auto trans and the clutch safety switch on manual trans cars. If they are good, then you have wiring problems. See http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195963.gif for 88-90 year cars .OR see http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/large/0900823d80195964.gif for 91-93 year cars. See http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/1d/db/3c/0900823d801ddb3c.jsp for 94-95 model cars.

6.) The starter may be hung, loosen up the bolts that hold it on, and give it a good whack with a big hammer. Tighten up the bolts and try again.

7.) If that doesn't work, use a jumper cable from the positive lead on the battery direct to the starter post where the big wire from the relay connects. If it cranks then, it is the power wire from the relay gone bad. This will be hard to do, since there isn't much room to do it.

8.) Pull the starter and take it to Autozone or Pep Boys and have them test it. Starter fails test, then replace it. If you got this far, the starter is probably bad.

On my mom's old Mitsubishi, the same thing happened when I put the key to the ON position. It was a loud bang and I was scared ****. It ended up just being the battery.

A much more useful & fulfilling task would be to learn automotive electrical systems. Being good at that can make you stand out from your peers. Electrical problems are a part of owning an older car. Sucessfully fixing them makes you a better part time (or full time) mechanic.

JR is right-on. Last time I checked, carbed cars still use wiring, and once things get rewired for a conversion, all bets are off on lookin up how something 'should be'.

J90GT said:

The car wont turn over (dead battery sound) lights come on/radio etc etc. but the longer i crank it the hotter this wire gets and its starts to almost bubble from the inside.


If thats a better description, could soleniod be the cause or is it the wire itself?

Click to expand...

Hmmm this sounds like a riddle. A dead battery wont allow anything on the car to make any sound.

I'm no Jrichker, but I'll take a stab at this. If the solenoid was bad, why would it allow one wire (of many) to get hot but not all the others? I've not seen a solenoid short to ground (that would be catastrophic given the power distribution nature of a solenoid, so we hope it's not feasible).

You really need to figure out what wire it is that's getting hot and check the wire and circuit to see why it's gettin so hot (bad connection, resistance, short to ground, etc). Once that's fixed, check all adjacent wiring for damage.

Good luck.