67vette123

While putting in a new battery for 67 327 non Ac vette i tapped the positive and neg ends of the battery with my wrench, connection was a split second so i thought nothing of it. Go to later with battery installed, i flip the battery cutoff switch and instantly the fusible link coming off the neg end of the starter solenoid blew. The wiring diagrams say it is a 16 gage wire so 20 gage fusible link to replace? I am a newbie to all of this and electrical is definitely not my field, is there any way that i shorted something else out and it will reoccur until the short is found or is it possible that replacing the fusible link will be the only step required to fix the problem? Car has absolutely no power to anything and no attempt to crank, no click. Any reply would be fantastic.

MelWff

The battery cutoff switch was in the OFF position when you touched the two terminals with the wrench?
If so the car should have been isolated from the accidental connection between the posts. That leads me to suspect something else caused the link to blow.

67vette123

wow fast reply, but yes the circuit was open when i tapped the battery, its wierd to me because i would think it would happen before i switched the old battery out for the newand thats the only thing i could think of that would cause it.

Powershift

1. Is the battery installed correctly?? For a factory car, the negative cable is brown and the positive cable is black. This is often the reason folks get into trouble. The fact that you blew the fusible link when you closed the cut-off switch points in this direction.

2. You should have two (2) fusible links at the starter solenoid. One is a 16 gage fusible link for the main car wiring , and the second is a 20 gage fusible link for the battery gage in the dash. You need to check each one a replace the one(s) that are bad. You can buy replacement fusible links from most auto parts stores and install them yourself. I like to solder mine in and cover with 2 layers of electrical heat shrink insulation. The best way to do this is to disconnect everything down by the starter (make sure you make notes on where they go to)) and then pull up this harness section to the top of the fender and make your repairs.

Larry

PS: The starter solenoid connection is + (positive) not - (negative) as stated above. This may point to my #1 statement above.

67vette123

Positive to cutoff

From cutoff to solenoid
Im quite sure the battery is installed correctly, its wierd how the positive goes to the battery cutoff then leads to the solenoid and my bad you are right the negative leads off to the same connection that the fusible link blew from, i ran to autozone and they dont carry 20 gage fusible links so ill have to order. I dont have the factory battery cables and both of them are black which is confusing but to clarify i have the positive wired from battery to cutoff, then red wire from there to solenoid, neg cable from battery to wherever this 4 cable harness attaches that includes the blown fusible link.

MelWff

Just a side point, I thought battery cutoffs should be wired onto the negative side

67vette123

yes ive been browsing the forum and thats what everyone was saying, its always worked before and never caused problems but it is definitely something im going to switch once i get this problem sorted out

67vette123

forgot to quote you on my reply, whoops

Powershift

MY earlier statement about the fusible links was incorrect. The one for the main harness is a 14 gage fusible link and is colored brown. That is the one I said earlier was 16 gage.

The second fusible link is 20 gage and is colored orange. This was correct stated by me earlier.

Both fusible links come off the same terminal connection. You will likely not be able to get the same colors for the new/replacement fusible links. That does not matter........just get the correct size.

Sorry for any confusion.........I was going from memory without checking the factory manuals, and got it wrong.

Larry

Tampa Jerry

You can pickup links at any NAPA auto store. As Larry said, pick up some shrink tubing while you are there. Jerry

67vette123

awesome, i really appreciate the speedy and helpful advice!! Hopefully just a few hours(many many hours) of work and she’ll be good to go again!! Thats what i said last time though, famous last words.

65GGvert

Just to double-check, you understood that the black wire from the battery to the starter is the positive wire correct? The ground or negative is brown. It is rare that a black wire is positive but it is in this case..

67vette123

i was just looking at that as i saw this, i think i may have made a bonehead move here, i saw the red wire on the battery cutoff which leads to ground on the motor and connected the positive to it which means i put the negative on my starter and therein lies my fault. The question now is what else might be damamged other than the fusible link blown?

Powershift

Best you can do is take one step at a time. Fix the fusible links and also check all your fuses. If nothing else shows up, then make sure of your connections and try it again. Then go from there.

Larry

PS: My guess is that you will be okay after fixing the fusible links.........since I don't think you turned the ignition key, and fuses should protect most other things. Alternator may be an issue, but maybe not.......these old cars are a bit forgiving. New ones, not so much.

67vette123

correct i did not turn the ignition key, and all the fuses are fine. Lets hope shes forgiving!! Im in the proccess of fixing the fisible links and will post on what the end result is!

Bluestripe67

Here is a simple solution! Chevy design be damed. Get new cables. RED for positive, BLACK for negative. Chevy probably tried to save a .02 cents with black and brown. Dennis

R66

If you don't have one, invest in a multimeter (e.g., volt meter, ohm meter, etc.) for > $10 at Harbor Freight and check the resistance to ground of the wires (POS of battery disconnected and one end of the wires disconnected). With the key off, you should get infinite resistance on the wires.
If the wire is shorted to ground or the solenoid is shorted, you will just burn another fusible link when you power everything up without finding the real problem. The short could be in the charging system or a simple wire against the exhaust manifold.

Ron

67vette123

fusible links replaced, started right up and all electrics are workin perfect!! She was very forgiving in this case atleast im sure im never going to make THAT mistake again

Powershift

Glad you got it fixed. I am confident that you will not repeat this lesson in the future.

We all learn when working on these old cars............I know I certainly do.



Larry