I know this isn't about my 65 Plymouth Valiant, but it's at least Mopar related. I'm finishing up my 73 Charger restoration and was attempting to test the lighting system last night. The battery I had only had 11.50 volts and 186 CCA. So I had it charged today and now it has a full 12.5 volts and 860 CCA. Well last night I was able to hook up everything without any sparks at the battery probably because the battery was so low. Most all the lights worked, the glove box, gear selector, dome light, and right rear tail lamps didn't come on but everything was conncected right. So when I went to connect the battery today to retest everything the large spark occured and melted my new positive cable and fried the starter relay. None of the instruments are on and I can't find any wire that's touching anything metal. There is a 14 gauge red wire that should connect to the B terminal of the relay, then into a fusible link, then turn into a 10 gauge red wire that goes to the Ammeter. If I follow that wire on the wiring diagram it says 60AMP. I now have a 60AMP alternator but it's not even connected, there is no engine in the car even, I'm just testing lights. I had a 10 gauge red wire that came out of the light harness connector which had been spliced with a black wire halfway between and was suppose to be plugged into the B terminal of the relay but on the wiring diagram it said to remove it with 60AMP. I removed that wire and just had the red starter wire hooked to the B terminal and that's when the relay fried and melted the battery cable. Before this happened we were getting the constant spark so I took out a couple fuses and tried to reconnect and was still getting the strong spark when connecting the negative cable. None of the fuses have ever blown throughout this continuing to connect the cables. All throughout this attempting to test the lights everytime I hooked up the negative last it would spark at the battery and at the B stud of the realy. So something is going on at that circuit right? What could be going on?
Please help, I'm worried, my starter relay smoked and melted my positive cable
- Thread starter wh23g3g
- Start date
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redfastback
Don't ask me... my garage is empty
First off, please get a test light to hook up between the - bat cable and - bat terminal on the battery. Seeing if there is a spark is asking for trouble. test light can be had for under 10 bucks. You have something hot going to ground or a ground hooked up to a constant hot.
mopar head
Well-Known Member
Have an electric choke wire touching ground? since you had no lights in back, maybe shorted? Continunity tester with a 20 ft. piece of wire will save you from putting all those amps through harness, and possible fire. carefull, $hit happens. good luck, electrical gremlins suck.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
Ok that's somewhere I can start now. The positive cable didn't get totally fried, just the outer wrapping. I have a new engine harness and the engine accessory plugs are laying on the k-frame, but not one of them is metal to metal, they all have their full insulation and protective caps for the alternator plugs. The rear tail lights worked, but only two on the driver's side and I remember how much of a pain it was to transfer the light sockets from my broken tail lights to the new tail lights. However, before I even messed with the tail lights it was sparking when I connected the negative cable, months ago. I thought maybe I hooked up the ammeter wires backwards, but they are not. I thought some of the new ignition switch wires were hooked up wrong, but I checked with the wiring diagram again and they are fine. The battery feed wire coming from the light harness bulkhead connector has been spliced with another black wire and the factory fusible link removed, I'm wondering if that could cause it. Since I need to find out which hot wire is live how can I check with a test light since I can't connect the battery? I can connect the positive but when I go to hook the negative that's when it sparks. Could the starter relay be bad? The stud was loose, but it had never been used. I've gone through light harness, dash harness, and tail light harness, and haven't seen anything damaged. I've got a test light but since I can't hook the battery up I don't know how to go about using it.
redfastback
Don't ask me... my garage is empty
whoooooaaaa there,,.....don't hit that "post reply" button too many times. It shows up as 10 or so of the same replies!!!
Start by eliminating the variables. Unplug the rear harness. Check all constant hots. Where does that extra wire spliced in go to where the fusible link was? When you hook the test light up like I stated earlier, it will be brightly lit until you find the draw without surging the system.
Start by eliminating the variables. Unplug the rear harness. Check all constant hots. Where does that extra wire spliced in go to where the fusible link was? When you hook the test light up like I stated earlier, it will be brightly lit until you find the draw without surging the system.
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