First square. 1980 GMC

[Mayhem.Evol]

Originally Posted by thefraze_1020

As far as I know, connecting to the alternator bracket is correct. That's the way it is on my '84. Although I've also seen it bolted to the exhaust manifold.

The negative is ground, so all you need is to hook it up something made of metal on the engine. Typically, alternator bracket or manifold is the best.

Hmm, I guess first thing to do would be to replace my ground that comes right off the negative cable to the back of the grille area. It's completely toast haha rubber melted almost completely off in a big section.

Then I guess I need to make sure the battery is fine as suggested above. It's only a week old with some cranks tried on it. Then go to the starter. Do I need to check out the alternator aswell?

[Sodell]

If your battery is new, you may need to charge it up.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Originally Posted by Sodell

If your battery is new, you may need to charge it up.

I'll check around and see if I know anyone with a battery charger. Should I try hooking it up to my other truck and jumping it or just find/buy a car battery charger?

[Mayhem.Evol]

So i put a new starter on. It started to do better than before, but it's still trying to burnup the ground from the negative battery cable to the back of the grille. I don't know if the starter is wired badly or something, I'm going to try to look it up. I put the wires back on as they were, but that could be wrong.

Also I heard the whining noise as it was trying to start, so i shimmed (or tried to shim) the outer bolt to bring it closer and it just seemed to do even worse. Idk if my battery is just dying or what, so I'm going to try to jump it tomorrow, I couldn't find our jumper cables anywhere.

[BADAZ chevy guy]

I'm wondering of your ignition switch might be worn and there's juice jumping between contacts.
Just a thought.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Originally Posted by BADAZ chevy guy

I'm wondering of your ignition switch might be worn and there's juice jumping between contacts.
Just a thought.

Hey I'm up for checking anything and everything! just trying to learn =p

So I should check the ignition switch? What should i look for that would make it worn? I suppose I could look up where to find it and take some pics for y'all. or just replace it.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Well after doing some googling.. Maybe my negative battery cable isn't making a good connection on the alternator bracket, causing the ground wire to burn up? I noticed i forgot to put one of the bolts back into the alternator bracket(I think it goes into the block? its down at the bottom).. I'm going to try to bolt that back in and clean up the bracket where the negative cable connects and see if it still tries to burn up that wire.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Sorry about the triple post but it worked! I wire brushed the area on the alternator bracket where the negative battery cable hooks up and moved it to another hole and rebolted the bottom of it down. No more melting my body ground! And it turned over alot quicker and tried for a lot longer!

I tried throwing some gas in the carb but it didn't do much. 2 tiny splutters, more of just air.. So I guess I need to check fire/fuel/air now that it's actually trying to turn?

[Mayhem.Evol]

Just got it to fire up and run a little bit. It's smoking pretty bad out of the tail pipes haha. However.. it isn't getting fuel. It will only start/run when gas is poured into the carb. What all should I check in the fuel system?

[y5mgisi]

First make sure it actually has fuel in the tank.

Do you know if it has a mechanical fuel pump? If so, I would remove the fuel line at the carb, and crank it over a few revolutions. Fuel should come spraying out of that fuel line in a pulsing manor and with a decent amount of vigor. If not, Its likely the fuel pump itself. To test that, you will need to get some fuel line/hose, and put one end on the pump, and the other in a container of gas. Now crank it over again. Within a few revolutions, fuel should come out. If not, fuel pump is bad. If fuel DOES come out while the fuel pump is sucking from a gas can/jug, then the problem is either the fuel tank selector valve, plugged fuel lines, or cracked/damaged lines in the tank.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

First make sure it actually has fuel in the tank.

Do you know if it has a mechanical fuel pump? If so, I would remove the fuel line at the carb, and crank it over a few revolutions. Fuel should come spraying out of that fuel line in a pulsing manor and with a decent amount of vigor. If not, Its likely the fuel pump itself. To test that, you will need to get some fuel line/hose, and put one end on the pump, and the other in a container of gas. Now crank it over again. Within a few revolutions, fuel should come out. If not, fuel pump is bad. If fuel DOES come out while the fuel pump is sucking from a gas can/jug, then the problem is either the fuel tank selector valve, plugged fuel lines, or cracked/damaged lines in the tank.

Thank you! I'm not sure if the fuel pump is mechanical but I'll try to look up how to tell and check it out. If it is then I'll do the steps you've said.
Thanks again! Sounds simple enough to follow, really appreciate it.

[y5mgisi]

Front right of the motor. down low. Looks like this.

[Mayhem.Evol]

Originally Posted by y5mgisi

Front right of the motor. down low. Looks like this.

Yepp pretty sure that's what is there, i thought that was the fuel pump when i was looking around. I'll have to do those tests on it to see whenever i get some time this weekend. I'll report back with the results! Also, I know it's really lazy of me but where could I pick up some fuel line to use for the tests?

I'm pretty sure the truck has a blown headgasket (the previous owner told me that, and there was water in the oil bad).. but how do I tell for sure?

[Mayhem.Evol]

Well.. Replaced the fuel pump and that seems to be working good now(I say this because my fuel line to the carb had a crack in it and it started spraying gas lol. So i replaced that and put a new filter in the carb because it was bad..

But.. I don't think the carb is getting fuel into it because i know the pump is pumping fuel into the carb line, and when we took the filter out there was gas in there.. but it isn't getting any inside the carb, or spraying any when you work the accelerator.

So I guess I need to take the carb back off and work on it again.