1985 Chevy C10 issues

[sumran]

Those readings sound better for a charged battery. You may get slightly higher readings if the battery is low.

[jdheff1982]

Well, my starter cables blew open and melted the grounding cable terminal. Sadly, non of this happened at home.
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[jdheff1982]

Can anyone suggest a proper way to extend these cables so I can route them away from the header. From what I can tell, one of the cables grounded to the header. I want to run them up the firewall and over the engine.

I am tired of these stupid problems. I just need this thing to work and be reliable for this winter.
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[sumran]

Could you post a picture of the engine compartment? It would be helpful to see your installed headers. You can route the cable along the frame rail until you get to the crossing point to reach the starter. You will likely want some type of heat shield around the cable near the headers.

[jdheff1982]

Got 'er fixed up. Had to replace the both battery cables and the starter. Found a spot in the cabling going from alt to starter that had burned thru from the header. Bought a 72 inch positive cable so I could run it up the firewall to the battery. Wrapped everything else in electrical tape. Installed new starter (other had shorted internally), got it all hooked up and had a good, healthy sounding start.

Hopefully I am done working on the starter for a good, long while.

[jdheff1982]

Going back to the fuel gauge again. I've been watching it lately. It does seem to work, but the needle is not in the right spot. Like today, the needle was on F when I refilled. After filling, the needle shot near the 3 o'clock spot. Is it possible to reposition the needle where it needs to be? The needle does drop some when power is off, but shoots to where it was previously when power is applied. Any ideas?

Thanks!

[sumran]

Originally Posted by jdheff1982

Going back to the fuel gauge again. I've been watching it lately. It does seem to work, but the needle is not in the right spot. Like today, the needle was on F when I refilled. After filling, the needle shot near the 3 o'clock spot. Is it possible to reposition the needle where it needs to be? The needle does drop some when power is off, but shoots to where it was previously when power is applied. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Where does it sit when the truck is near empty?

[jdheff1982]

I'm not entirely sure. I know it sits near F when Half empty. My guess would be somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 mark.

I did pull the gauge and did a resistance test. I kept seeing 100+ ohms on the gauge itself no matter where the needle was positioned. When I tested the terminals on the dash, I would see 300+ ohms to the mega-ohm range depending on how I was connected. My guess would be a bad ground somewhere.

On a side note, I am getting ready to install a roll pan I bought from LMC a while back. It did not come with any instructions for the install. It does seem rather straight forward. My question on this is, I have 6 sheet metal screws, 2 washers, and 2 hex head screws. It's obvious where the sheet metal screws go, but what are the hex-heads and washers for? Also, the plate light has 2 black wires coming out of it, am I to assume that it does not matter how it is connected? Thanks!

[sumran]

Originally Posted by jdheff1982

I'm not entirely sure. I know it sits near F when Half empty. My guess would be somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 mark.

Please drive until completely empty. Report back.

[jdheff1982]

Hey, just curious what could cause my engine to stumble when making right-hand turns? Left turns are fine.

Thanks!