Wishmaster's87IROC

iTrader: (4)

I dont have my plug wires attached to my dizzy or my plugs yet...but when I turn the motor over, somthing is smoking....as wires burning.......

its coming from...behind the passenger side valve cover theres a group of wires that are attached to a bolt thats hooked up to the head and whats looks to be like a thing where you can hook up a hook or something if you was to lift the motor out....what group of wires are attached there?...why would the be smoking? I didnt mess with those wires when I put everything back together. I cant tell where the go to......can you guys help me out with this problem....its just been one after the other....and Im getting really frustrated....

here is a picture of where the hook is located, the wires are attached to one of the bolts that hold this thing on...

littlebagz

On the 84 that I had the leads that go to the starter solenoid are located there. If they were smoking you probably have a bad ground somewhere, and as you were cranking the engine over there was too much draw to keep the solenoid engaged. Wires gothot and began to melt. I would take a closer investigation to make sure you dont ave a melted mess that could lead to a dead short or an electrical fire......

RB83L69

THe thing that's smoking is your ground strap, or some of the other wires and stuff that might be touching it. It's probably glowing cherry red. That's because the way the car is mis-wired at the moment is forcing the starter current to pass through it, instead of going the way it's supposed to.

Sounds to me like you need to hook your negative battery cable to the block instead of to the frame.

Wishmaster's87IROC

iTrader: (4)

my ground use to be connected to the smog pump but now its not there and I did just ground it to the frame. what do you mean the way the car is mis-wired? Im pretty sure everything is wired the same way when I took it apart. I did also have to change my starter solenoid cause the old one was dried up and cracked all to hell...but I connected it the same way it came off I made sure of that. Also ther are 2 bolts that screw into the starter, not the ones that hold it to the flywheel but 2 that screw in and looks like they hold the cover on.....the top one was stripped out so I just too it out......

how did you know I grounded to the frame rail? you must have some powers that you need to share!...LOL

RB83L69

That's what's mis-wired.

The starting current leaves the positive post, passes through the positive cable to the slenoid, through the starter, through that little weenie braid strap, through the car body, back to the point where the negative cable hooks up, then through the neg cable back to the batt. Hook the neg cable to the block (or at least to something bolted solidly to it) so it doesn't have to make the detour through the ground strap.

I function as an electrical engineer by trade, although I have no formal education whatsoever in that field. I'm actually just an idiot. But I know many of the electrons personally, and I just asked them to check with their buds and tell me how you had it hooked up.

Seriously... it's the most likely way to make that happen.

"The simplest explanation that fits all the facts is usually the right one."
- Occam, ancient Greek philosopher, from the days when car electrical systems were all 6 volt positive ground

Wishmaster's87IROC

iTrader: (4)

sounds logical....its actually a bunch of giberish to me but its sound like you know what your talking about........I thought it was Ok to ground to the frame but I guess not since it wasnt grounded to the frame to begin with, it was on the motor somwhere. I hope thats what it is.

I guess I got to get a longer negative cable cause its not long enough to reach any part of the block anymore. the smog pump bracket was where it was and that stuck out far enough to ground to.

jus more money to spend...

thanks RB!


that funny how you knew I did that but I hadnt said anything about it!

Wishmaster's87IROC

iTrader: (4)

heres a pic of my negative cable....do they make one with that extra wire coming off of it? that connects to the side of the body.


does a place like AZ carry this same type of cable?

RB83L69

Yup... most any parts store will have it. You might need to look it up for some other kind of car or truck if they're using a computer to find the right one, and try a couple of different ones before you hit on the perfect thing.