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I recently removed my oil pan to replace the gasket so in the process I removed my starter. I reassembled over the weekend and attempted to start the car tonight. I turned the key, the starter briefly engaged, and I saw a small plume of smoke come from the engine compartment. I currently have no power at all, not even courtesy lights or the clock are working. I think I connected the starter back up correctly, see the attached picture:
It is a little hard to see in the picture, but the purple wire is on the S terminal, the black with red stripe is on the R terminal, and the battery cable and orange and black wires are on the B terminal. This is a 65 L79 motor with stock points distributor, I couldn't really see where the smoke came from since I was in the drivers seat when it happened. I did notice that the nut on the positive coil terminal seems to be stripped and I can't get it very tight so I swapped in a spare coil just to be safe, but no change.
The Click then No Power suggests a Bad to No Connection
The Smoke may mean burnt wiring
I would check the battery posts for good clean connections then
Check the Ground to the Battery
Get out the AIM out then
begin at the starter with a test light and check for power working towards the fuse block.
Power at the starter
Power at the coil with the key on
Power at the horn relay
If no power
There could be a bad/poor connection at the starter or a power wire from the starter that is loose or burnt open
The main power feed is the Red/Black behind the positive battery lug at the starter. On later cars a Fuseable Link was put there so you may want to check this wire as it may have been installed and is burnt. See Link
If there is some power -
the feed connection through the firewall may be bad - This would result in no lights in the cabin- you may get the horn or radio to work but no lights. See Link
Hard to tell from your picture, but it looks like the positive cable is shorted to the solenoid case via metal washer and nut. Am I wrong or doesn't the positive lead need be insulated?
There should be an insulating fiber washer?
From: Putnam Valley, New York. Amateur Radio Operator K2NS
No power
Everything in your picture looks OK----EXCEPT for the positive battery cable. Either the insulation has shrunk--which is NO PROBLEM, or the actual copper cable has pulled out of the lug--which might break the circuit. Also, check the connections at the battery--If they're not clean and not making good contact, that could generate some smoke and break the circuit. Let us know what you find.
Here is what I found so far, if you look at my previous picture you can see that the black wire w/pink stripe looks like it is right against the starter body. I pulled it away and found some insulation missing as seen here:
I took the terminal off the end and put some heat shrink over this area as a temporary repair then realized that I don't have a new terminal so I will have to get some tomorrow. I also did a continuity check on this wire up to the coil and it looks good. If this in fact is what caused the problem, what did I burn up to cause me to lose power? I haven't checked the power past the starter terminal, I was going to wait until I had this wire back on to go further.
The insulation has shrunk back on the positive cable, but it is tight in the lug. The battery terminals are clean and in good shape. I see the comment about the positive lead and an insulating washer, mine did not have one when I took it off, I don't know if there is supposed to be one or not.
That black/pink wire crimp is pretty poor -- redo it and get some of the wire insulation down inside the crimp connector before the crimp. I don't know if those firewall bulkhead connectors have anything to do with it (the two near the master cylinder) but it never hurts to pop those off and look for corrosion, loose/missing/bent pins, etc... (disconnect battery first, of course).
Make sure that cable on the bottom big lug is tight -- can't tell from the photo but it might be loose...
Last edited by Frankie the Fink; Oct 23, 2014 at 07:55 AM.
For starters, no pun intended, I would re-crimp the positive battery cable.
-The S wire(purple) runs directly to the ignition switch and provides a 12 volt source when you turn the key to the start position. If the copper inside that wire is corroded, it will cause all sorts of issues...just went through this on a 54 healey and was amazed at how oxidized the copper was inside the sheathing!
-If my memory serves me correctly, the I terminal bypasses the ballast resistor and provides a direct 12 Volts to the coil while cranking. It is not necessary for the car to crank, so my guess is your problem is either in your battery cable or most likely, the 12volt wire(S) that runs from your ignition switch.
I find a remote starter switch to come in handy when diagnosing these types of issues. Advance auto parts carries the one listed in the amazon link below.
BTW, my guess is the smoke came from your ammeter wire. I would disconnect it while you are diagnosing your starter issues. I would also cut back the wrap on your wiring harness and check to see if the ammeter wire burned up.
Well it appears that the black/pink wire had shorted against the starter and caused the problem. I put the heat shrink over the bare spot, crimped a new end on, hooked up my battery and I have power again. I did not try to start it yet, I am going to wait till this weekend when I have some daylight and take it outside to start it. It looks like it is time for a new engine wiring harness, any suggestions on who makes a good one?
I replaced all my wiring harnesses within the last year with Lectric Limited harnesses. To install, I routed the new harness as I removed the old, one connector at a time. Didn't take that long to do the engine harness, and if I can do it and not burn the car to the ground, anyone can.
well the same thing has happened to me, decided to take the 67 out for a run. Everything worked fine and we (wife) were on the way home, pulled into the gate and everything died saw smoke coming from the harness drivers side. Found a 4watt ceramic resistor incased in the harness, with all the heat that little sucker put out it melted several of the surrounding wires. I removed the offending resistor as I could not find it in any of the wiring diagrams.Found all the hot at all times wires were only giving me 6.5 vdc, back feed from the battery and everything worked. disconected the rag joint for the steering wheel and dropped the dash, found that bubba had a problem 30 years ago and spliced the hot wire from the ignition switch and the same wire from the headlight circuit with a wire nut ?????. I pulled out my hair for several days before I found it. now it is conected to the circuit breaker as a splice point.
Good luck to you and watch out for bubba
Well it appears that the black/pink wire had shorted against the starter and caused the problem. I put the heat shrink over the bare spot, crimped a new end on, hooked up my battery and I have power again. I did not try to start it yet, I am going to wait till this weekend when I have some daylight and take it outside to start it. It looks like it is time for a new engine wiring harness, any suggestions on who makes a good one?
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Electrical Problem
