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Click, smoke, no start

Agrivating problem for over a year now. Mech shop (I trust, know for

15yrs) told me last time all I needed was a new battery. Did not solve the problem.

The problem: Turn key to start, hear click and then nothing. The longer I hold the key in start the hotter the smaller wire from the neg bat post gets. It finally burned in two. It was loose on the fender wall, when I replaced it, I made sure the mount was solid. Didn't start on first try. History of this problem has shown me that if I am patient and release key as soon as starter does not begin wire does not burn and repeated tries will engage starter......but not always and I'm not one to have extra time on the way to work! Three different starters, same problem.

Is there a relay in the circuit? A connection between bat and solenoid to check? It reminds me of why I install Ford solenoid next to the starter on my VW beetles. Too much voltage drop otherwise.

Help, please?

Reply to
rlohrey
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Tackle this logically. If the small body ground is getting hot, then the main ground cable has a poor connection where ever it is hooked to, and the small wire is carrying more load then it was designed to.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

You should have a main ground cable bolted directly to the engine block/head from the battery. Remove the cable from the the engine, clean cable and clean eng area to shiney metal to ensure good contact.

Good Luck, James

Reply to
James1549

A lot of times the cable will get corroded , even if you clean what you see, under the Insulation is a different matter and can get really bad also and cause a huge problem. Replacing both Positive and Negative Cables may need to be done. Of course I'd make sure both battery terminals are nice and clean first and see how it works. Maybe try reading what the voltage it at the starter where the Cable going to the battery is at compared to the voltage reading you get at the battery. A lot of Corrosion on the cable will act like a resistor and give you a lower reading at the other end of the cable. You could have 13 volts at the battery, and 8 volts at the other end of the cable that's connected to the starter. That would be a bad cable and needs to be replaced.

Reply to
JBDragon

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