Wiring Problem with 62

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Jun 1, 2008 | 04:17 PM

Houston62

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From: Houston Tx

Wiring Problem with 62

I was driving down the road and the car started missing and eventually died. Tried to restart and smoke started billowing from under the hood. The wire from the ballast resistor to the starter solenoid had every bit of insulation melted off (dk green). Also the wire from the coil to the ballast resistor had all the insulation melted off (lt green). Any guesses on what the original cause of the problem might be? I have pulled the wires off the solenoid and untaped that whole part of the harness. No remaining sign of an electrical short.

Bubba has been at work on the wiring and had spliced in a wire from a push button switch that will be activated when the hood is shut to the ignition switch wire (violet). I cant find the purpose of this switch so that I can correct bubbbas work. Anyone know?

Thanks

Jun 1, 2008 | 04:24 PM

oldschoolvette

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From: Orlando FL

Good luck, bubba worked on my car before I saved it. I had to by a wire schematic and have spent 14 months rubbing my head and fixing a little at a time. It is very hard to figure other peoples thoughts sometimes good luck

Jun 1, 2008 | 04:33 PM

Double-E

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From: NORTHERN NJ

Wiring Problem

Do you have ignition shielding? That wire sometimes shorts through the shielding if everything is not installed carefully.

Jun 1, 2008 | 04:39 PM

Houston62

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From: Houston Tx

Yes, the car has ignition shielding. My initial thought was it had shorted to the shielding. I would have thought that the wire would have only melted to the point where it shorted to the shielding.

Thanks

Jun 1, 2008 | 04:46 PM

62Jeff

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From: Conroe Texas

When there's a short, the entire wire gets hot, melting the insulation until a wire or connection melts all the way through, a fuse blows, or the car catches fire and burns down.

Jun 2, 2008 | 12:18 AM

62Jeff

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From: Conroe Texas

One thought - 25 years ago (so my memory is a little fuzzy), my freshly restored 62 had an electrical fire. I was driving down my street and the car died and started to smoke.

The ignition harness that starts at the ignition switch and ends up at the starter, had shorted out against a bell housing bolt because I had improperly routed the harness. That harness is unfused so it kept smoking until a wire burned all the way through and broke the short

I'm thinking that may be the same harness that burned up on your car.

Did you burn a wire in half? If not, how did you get the short to stop?

Jun 2, 2008 | 11:20 AM

JohnZ

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From: Washington Michigan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Houston62

The wire from the ballast resistor to the starter solenoid had every bit of insulation melted off (dk green). Also the wire from the coil to the ballast resistor had all the insulation melted off (lt green). Any guesses on what the original cause of the problem might be?

I've seen this countless times - it's usually the result of a dead short caused by the coil (+) terminal contacting the inside of the top ignition shield, or the wire from the ballast resistor to the coil (+) being cut by the sharp edge of the bottom of the shield.

Jun 2, 2008 | 07:51 PM

Houston62

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From: Houston Tx

Thanks for all the suggestions. The wire was still intact just all the insulation had burnt off. I could not find any indication of the original short on the wire. I was expecting a burnt spot on the remaining copper that would indicate where the wire shorted.

JohnZ is correct. Thinking about this at work today I realized I should look at the inside of the shielding. Guess what, There is a very clear sign of an arc to the + coil terminal on the inside of the shielding.