[Tigers] Electrical short during start attempt

[Gary Winblad]

Humm..  strange then.
Could the burned black wire have been burned previously?
Gary

On 7/23/2018 7:49 AM, Gharlowe wrote:
> Thanks, Gary.  I’ll check again, but the ground strap was bolted tightly at both ends and wasn’t broken.  I gave it a good tug.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jul 23, 2018, at 10:02 AM, Gary Winblad <garywinblad at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> Graham,
>> The loose ground in the trunk WILL prevent it from starting.
>> BUT your problem is the ground strap on the engine.
>> Make sure it connects from the engine to the chassis (the old Alpine tranny mount threaded hole).
>> It must be loose or connected wrong to burn the small black wire.
>> It is straightforward, really only as complicated as a flashlight ;-)
>> Gary
>>
>>
>>> On 7/22/2018 11:03 AM, Graham Harlowe via Tigers wrote:
>>>
>>> Thank you all for the replies. (I knew I should have paid more attention
>>> during those EE classes!)   The starter circuit seems pretty straight
>>> forward:  heavy gauge positive cable from the battery to the starter
>>> solenoid and then to the starter/engine block.  The circuit is closed via
>>> the ground strap from the engine block to the chassis at the clutch slave
>>> cylinder and then from the chassis to the battery negative terminal via the
>>> short cable at the trunk bulkhead.
>>>
>>> The "two" ground wires that fried are actually two ends of the same wire.
>>> The wire enters the harness from the ballast resistor (chassis mount), does
>>> a 180 inside the harness, and exits the loom with the sending unit wire
>>> (block mount).  As others have said, when the heavy gauge starter circuit is
>>> open, the power seeks another ground path and the light gauge ground wire
>>> between chassis and block couldn't carry the load.
>>>
>>> I found the ground strap at the slave cylinder was intact with good
>>> connections.  I'll remove and clean up the contacts to be sure.  The battery
>>> cable at the trunk bulkhead wasn't tight.  I'll tighten that connection and
>>> hope that was the primary problem.
>>>
>>>   Let me know if there are any other places to look or items to check.
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>>
>>> - Graham
>>>
>>>
>>>
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