I think I made a mistake.

To get to the ending we must start at the beginning.

The vette had been on hold over the winter months until I could work on her without freezing while laying on cement.

I was in the process of replacing the fuel lines between the throttle bodies with AN ss braided lines. Once I thought everything was connected, I would reconnect the battery and turn the key (just enough to engage the fuel pump). Needless to say, chasing down leaks and bad connections created a couple puddles of gas. When this would happen I would soak up the gas, put the rags in a metal container, and then wait a day until everything aired and dried out. I would leave the garage door open during this 24 hr period.

One day (two days ago) I come into the garage and work a while and am ready for the "test". I connect the battery but this time I smell a burning rubber smell (had not inserted the key to prime fuel pump) and I noticed the battery terminal sparked more than usual. I quickly disconnected the battery. I examined where I thought the smell was permeating and felt it may have been coming from the rubber backing on the terminal. I cleaned the terminals thoroughly on both the connector and battery. After the cleaning, I reconnected the battery, no burning rubber smell "whew".

Moving on to today. I connect the battery for the test and sniffed for problems. Everything seemed good, inserted the key to prime the pump, and wow smoke from the engine compartment. Quickly I pulled out the key, disconnected the battery and foolishly looked into the engine compartment.

Luckily my fuel lines didn't leak. The flame was small (candle or match size), burning what looked to be electrical wiring or something on the starter. I put them out and tried to examine from above the disaster area. I couldn't see any damage but to be thorough I will have to get under for a better look.

Is it possible that the wiring heated-up to combust a small puddle of gas? Was I not waiting long enough to allow all of the gas to evaporate between my toolings? Could the burning I first smelled been something to do with the starter and thus meaning my fuel line work is independent of my new problem?

Yeah you can let me have it. I made a few mistakes on this one. :o

 

Sounds like you have invented yourself a nice short on the starter. There are a couple of Fuse Links on the starter that power most everything on the car. If you were moving stuff around on the starter you may have pushed one of them onto the metal somewhere. Get under there with a light, (battery disconnected) take the wires off the starter and pay attention to where they came from. Fix the burned ones.

 

You definitely have something wired incorrectly at the starter or starter solenoid. That is done [with some regularity] by C3 owners. Check your wiring diagram for proper location for all wiring. (check where each wire is coming from....not where you think it's coming from)

 

That's just the thing. I haven't touched the starter since I purchased the car last year.

Of course she has only been run a few times. Just started and run for about 20 minutes up and down the road to check for problems with items I've repaired or replaced.

This is the first time anything like this has happened to scare the crap out of me.

I'll definitely check the wiring.

 

Could have been one of the fuseable links, the wire inside blows and the insulation burns a little.

Always make sure you have a couple of fire extinguishers handy

 

OK. Well, here's the thing... the fusible links are only there to prevent a dead short due to a circumstance that is not a normal risk. So, an unusual condition has occured. With a long-standing vehicle, that may mean that a chunk of rust developed inside a component and is creating a short that should not exist. So, if you find a fried fusible link (there is one on the power lead going to the starter solenoid), you not only have to repair the fuse-link; you also have to find the "unusual" short that caused it to fry.

You may need to remove the starter and solenoid and disassemble them to find the cause of your problem. There are other areas/components in the engine compartment that can have a similar occurence. When you find what was burning, that should guide you towards the area of the short. Good luck.

 

Good call MotorHead.

Managed to get the starter removed this weekend and low and behold bubba had been there. Three exposed wires leading from the main power for the starter. All of the wires were soaked in grease.

I'm guessing that the exposed wires decided to select just one fusible link, fried it, and the grease caught fire.

Frankly, I'm surprised this hadn't happened sooner.

All in all, not much damaged, just some melted wires, and a scorched starter.

All cleaned up, fixed, and new links in place.

Another step closer.

 

So, I guess you did have "...something wired incorrectly at the starter or starter solenoid". It just wasn't you that did the [poor] wiring.

 

Bubba has lots of brothers and they all have the same first name. Glad you found the short before total disaster struck!

 

Okay, okay. Here is YOUR pat on the back too. Feel better?

Glad you noticed it: that in post I stated it wasn't my work. I'm a tad bit more concerned with being meticulous and doing it correctly than throwing things together and praying they work.

 

Not a problem. I just try to offer the best advice I can...