elec short ? continues
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 275
Likes: 1
From: Lafayette/marquez La/tx
elec short ? continues
I'm still chasing a short in m 79. I found a wire that is shorted to ground "I think". It the wire that is hot when you turn the key on and it goes to the solenoid, engages the solenoid. with the key off it seems like is grounded. is my solenoid bad or is that how it is supposed to be? car starts ok. I got one of them power probe ect2000 short finder. i hooked it up to battery and the put a wire poker to the green banana clip and started checking wires, that's when the ign/solenoid wire showed up as grounded
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 161
Likes: 17
From: Georgia
What you are seeing is probably normal since the car starts ok. That ground you think you are seeing actually comes through the winding of the solenoid's coil which is tied to ground. It's basically an electromagnetic, you have to have + on one end of the wire and - (ground) on the other end for it to work . I don't have the wiring diagram so I can't say for sure, I'm guessing this is what you are seeing.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,098
Likes: 378
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
I'm still chasing a short in m 79. I found a wire that is shorted to ground "I think". It the wire that is hot when you turn the key on and it goes to the solenoid, engages the solenoid. with the key off it seems like is grounded. is my solenoid bad or is that how it is supposed to be? car starts ok. I got one of them power probe ect2000 short finder. i hooked it up to battery and the put a wire poker to the green banana clip and started checking wires, that's when the ign/solenoid wire showed up as grounded
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,410
Likes: 1,547
From: mount holly NC
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2019 C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods)
The solenoid is grounded and waiting for positive power to turn on.
Much of the wiring in a Corvette sends 12 volts positive to the part and a switch supply's the ground. The starter solenoid 'S' terminal is an exception.
tgcattle, what do you mean 'chasing' a short?
Does the battery drain after a while or some other problem.
Last edited by Peterbuilt; Dec 20, 2015 at 01:24 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 7,410
Likes: 1,547
From: mount holly NC
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2019 C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods)
tgcattle, I found your other post and if you followed SwampeastMike and SIXFOOTER's advise and still have a drain then two other places to look are:
The black ground wire from the wiper motor also grounds the heater blower motor and should end connected to a starter bolt, but because the lug at the end of the wire is big it sometimes, incorrectly, gets connected to the solenoid positive wire.
A diode in the alternator can fail and make the battery drain so disconnect the alternator and see if the drain goes away.
The black ground wire from the wiper motor also grounds the heater blower motor and should end connected to a starter bolt, but because the lug at the end of the wire is big it sometimes, incorrectly, gets connected to the solenoid positive wire.
A diode in the alternator can fail and make the battery drain so disconnect the alternator and see if the drain goes away.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 9,394
Likes: 124
This will cook the fluid out of the battery causing it to not hold it's charge for very long.
If it takes 2 weeks to go dead, you may not have a drain at all, just a dry battery.
Unhook the battery and see if it still goes dead in 2 weeks.
If it is not sealed, take the caps off, and see if it has fluid in it.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 275
Likes: 1
From: Lafayette/marquez La/tx
I checked alt. it is putting out 14 volts. I think my volt meter may be bad. I found the wire to turn compressor on was grounded to A/c metal line. and also wiring harness under master cylinder was sitting on header and melted some wires.
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Former Vendor
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Jeffersonville Indiana 812-288-7103
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Here is a tracer harness that should help you. Right click on the image below, then open your favorite (paint works well) editing program and paste it into a file. Then save it to your desktop and you can edit it, trace wires and circuits with ease. If you click no it twice you'll see it opens up into a much larger format and if your blind like me this is a bonus.
Willcox-
Willcox-
Last edited by Willcox Corvette; Dec 20, 2015 at 06:21 PM.
