Guys,
Last week, with your help, you assisted me in the process of changing the starter on my 1980 L-48. I had killed it by cranking too much (due to fouled plugs).

I replaced the unit, and everything worked great. This morning, I took her out for a spin, and came home. Later, when I went to start it.....nothing. I have a solid battery and even tried to jump it.

I let it rest a while, and tried to crank it again. Then I saw smoke from the pass side-the wires to the starter were cooking, and one broke in two!!!
Any idea why this would have happened? I had no issues before? Maybe the unit seized up, and the power fried the wire? I want to trouble shoot this, and want to know the best way to do it.
Any ideas?
Help!

 

Two things jump to mind:
1. When you installed the starter, you didn't route the wires as they were intended. As a result they rubbed on something or got overheated and touched something they shouldn't.

2. For some reason there is a huge power draw to the starter that overwhelmed your wires.

I am leaning toward #1 based on your newness to this car and you are still in the learning process.

Replace the wires, make sure they are routed out of the way, there is a clean tight ground and try it again.

 

That may be what it was. Do you think the starter is toast? I was hoping to not have to replace it, but I will do what I have to do.

BTW, I did wash the car after I parked it, before I tried to restart-could water have effected it? I was thinking this could be a possibility, but with the starters location, I would assume it would get wet all the time when it is raining....

 

It seems like the wiring took the brunt, not the starter.

Washing the car shouldn't create the condition you had.

Just change the wires and make sure it's all grounded right and give her a whirl.

 

Just want to make sure I have it all wired right. See pic below.
Wires 1, 2, and 3 all come together at the same bolt.
Wire # 2 is the one that fried.

Wire #4 is a black wire that mounts on the 'R' (smaller) bolt.

I wired just like the old starter-is this correct?

 

Is that an inline fuse on wire #1 just halfway out of shot? If so did you check it and replace it?
As for the correctness of the wiring, I would have to look at a manual or at the bottom of my car to see. Right now I am dressed for church. so I'm not going near the garage.

Is the insulation on all the wires in ok shape? I still think the cause was arcing or the high energy wire on the frame or other metal.

Make sure the ground wires are on clean metal and tight.

 

The wires attached to the (big) center bolt on the starter solenoid are, according to my source, suppose to be RED in color. The battery, Alternator (labeled "Batt" on the alternator). According to the book I have, the third connection to that terminal has a wire that runs to the fan switch and other circuits.

The "S" terminal on the starter solenoid goes to the starter switch

The "R" is the coil resistor bypass (boosts the coil on start) that goes directly to the coil.

The alt (red fusible link wire) connection appears to be OK.

See if the burnt/melted insulation is limited to the immediate area of the connection only. My point is, if the insulation of that wire within the wire harness shows no signs of excessive heat, then the problem is isolated to the area around the starter - between the starter and where the damaged/melted insulation ends. (I'm guessing it is isolated to the starter area, or you would have blown a fuse before that wire would melt in two (suggesting a short occurred between the solenoid connection and the fuse(s).) See if there is somewhere where that wire came to ground for some reason; abrasion, or perhaps due to proximity with the exhaust the insulation got soft and the wire within "pushed through" to a ground point somewhere along it's length. Just a thought.

Oh! And do I dare mention that if that wire shorted to finally burn through, there is the possibility that the battery has drained significantly and might benefit from a recharge...I'm just sayin'!

Keep us informed.

P
(1) Source:"Corvette 1966-1982" by Motorbooks

 

That wire is the fusible link section that runs to the alternator and the bulk of the harness.

P.

 

Wires 1 & 2 are both RED inline fuseable wires that attached to the main bolt on the solenoid (along with a third wire). #2 is the wire that fried, between the fuse and the solenoid.

Perhapsyour right, and it got soft and grounded somewhere causing the melting. Question is, is the starter shot, or is this a wiring issue? Any way i can test without having to pull the starter out again?

Also, where is the best place to get a couple new, inline fuseable wires to replace #2 (and #1 while I am at it)?

 

I'm guessing your starter is fine. Take a long screwdriver and lay it on the big battery bolt and touch the "S" bolt on the solenoid. If the starter kicks over, then I'd say for sure the starter is fine.

As for the fusible link that opened...Something in the load on that wire is shorted. See if you can see the other end of the heat damage. That will either be the location of the short, or narrow your hunt down.

Good luck.

P.

 

Okay-I did this and i get a ton of sparks. Was I suppossed to disconnect anything? Do i need to do anything with the fried wire?

 

On an 1980
Larger black battery cable and 2 red fuselink wires to the big battery lug on the solenoid.
Purple wire to the "s" terminal
Nothing to the "r" terminal, in fact the correct solenoid doesn't even have the "r" terminal.

A black wire should be the ground wire. To be sure check it for continuity to ground. I like to tape it back up the harness a bit and use a short bolt to mount it to the back of the head, out of sight and out of mind.

 

Any ideas why I am getting sparks when I do this 'test'?

 

Jumping across those terminals can be little intimidating. Yes you'll get sparks, normal. You have to be quick about it, getting the two terminals jumped with a solid connection.

 

Okay, once I jump them, what am I looking/listening for? It is hard to hear anything, as I hear loud pops from the initial sparks.

Also, I want to replace the 2 red fuselink wires. Can I buy replacements at the autoparts store? Should I ask for anything specific? Gauge, voltage, etc?

 

Would it be bad to just replace the 2 wires with new 10 gauge wire, and eliminate the fuselink?

 

You need to replace the damaged fusible links. Their purpose is to melt when that circuit sees too much current, so the starter won't get fried. A fusible link melts the wire, but the insulation will not catch fire. The insulation on a standard piece of wiring WILL catch fire and the whole car can go up in smoke!! Replace the links with the correctly sized units. Most auto parts stores carry them. NAPA for sure...

 

I had a similar issue this weekend as Mikey, and went to advance auto, and they sold me (2) inline fuses (30) to replace. This is an acutal fuse in the line. Would this suffice, or do I need to get an actual fusible links?

 

Replace fusible-links with only equivalent capacity fusible-links. There are reasons why GM installed them and they are still valid today. DO NOT replace fuse/links with standard fuses...they will leave you stranded on occasion, because they will fail from normal use when a fuse/link would not. Fuse/links are not supposed to fail...they are meant to be part of the wiring system. They only fail when there is a serious, dead-short that would cause major harm to primary engine accessories.

 

Something doesn't sound right here... If in fact you are jumping from the battery cable terminal to the "S" terminal, NORMALLY you will get a bit of a spark, but you will also hear the solenoid "clack" and the starter will immediately begin turning as long as you hold the screwdriver steady. If you don't hear the solenoid "clack" and the starter kick - just a big hot spark (like a welding rod) STOP what you're doing. Something si not right! Either there is something wrong/shorted, or you're jumping the wrong terminals.

I appreciate your spirit and gumption to do your own troubleshooting, but at this point I think you're far better off having someone (maybe from the board) show you the ropes here while you look over their shoulder.

JMHO...

P.