No start after...

[champscl]

Ok so I have a 86 gmc sierra c25 with a thm400 and a 350 engine. Just rebuilt the carb and changed the intake gaskets and valve cover gaskets. Everything was fine until I go to start it up. It acted like it barely wanted to turn over then both + and - leads from the battery get hot and start to smoke. Before I go start tearing into it thought I might ask some advice of where to start looking for the problem. Also the battery is brand new 2 weeks old and I tried jumping it to same thing smoke and hot wires.

Thanks
Rodney
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[Goldfinger]

Hot wires could be a bad connection i would start by cleaning up the wires and checking the starter connection. Also make sure the starter bolts are tight.

[champscl]

Ok I was just outside looking over all the connections for the pos and neg. terminals. I found a ground strap bolted to the body but nowhere else on the passenger side. Doesn't this need to be grounded to the block? It looks like it has been hanging loose for a while. I should add I just bought this truck 2 weeks ago so I have no prior knowledge of what was done to the truck before then.
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[Goldfinger]

I personally would add another ground to the chassis. These thing's don't like not being grounded properly.

[Corts60]

Grounds are a must. Battery to engine, battery to frame and body, engine to frame, engine to body. After that, you have a no start issue, perhaps check your timing again since you pulled the intake manifold.

[kalbert]

Originally Posted by Corts60

perhaps check your timing again since you pulled the intake manifold.

I'd check this first. While grounds and clean connections are important, if the truck started fine before all the work was done you should double check that the distributor isn't 180 off and that the wires are on right. Very common mistakes, and when the sparks aren't happening on the right part of the cycle the starter gets a real workout!

[champscl]

Ok I'll check the timing. Also I changed cap, rotor and wires all at the same time. I should add that the truck "barely" would start and wouldn't stay running without fluttering the throttle before I did all this work. The carb was leaking gas everywhere so I rebuilt it. The plugs were fouled out and the intake leaked vacuum through the bolts under the carb. I paid 500 for it lol... So it's got issues... Would the timing off cause the battery cables to smoke and get hot?
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[Corts60]

No, bad grounds are causing the smoke. Also, in the future try not to replace so many things at once. You can easily get overwhelmed and end up chasing your tail.

[champscl]

Originally Posted by Corts60

No, bad grounds are causing the smoke. Also, in the future try not to replace so many things at once. You can easily get overwhelmed and end up chasing your tail.

Lol... Yeah, I'm already there I've got too many projects im already pulling a trans from a 2000 passat turbo with a busted torque converter seal. This truck was supposed to be a simple fix that's what I get for thinking...
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[champscl]

OK so I had a chance to get into it this afternoon and here is what I found...
1. There were two ground issues, the first was on the passenger side rear - body to engine ground. The second was the ground from the negative battery terminal.
2. The battery which I just purchased is bad it only sat in the engine bay unhooked after i got it so go figure.
3. The timing was 180* out and there was no pointer for timing and the harmonic balancer had no numbers on it so it was a royal P.I.A. to get right at first.

After all that it fired right up I adjusted the timing for idle and throttle response and it starts every time no problem.

Thanks for all the help gentlemen and I'm sure I'll have more questions to come.

Rodney

[champscl]

Here's a few Pics I shot while I was working on it.

[kalbert]

Originally Posted by champscl

Would the timing off cause the battery cables to smoke and get hot?
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Yes! That poor starter probably pulls alot of amps to get spinning, and to try and get it to spin while bucking a wrong firing order it could be 800+ easily. You're poor battery cables aren't built for that and will get very hot. I'd guess the starter motor would be burn your fingers hot too.

Glad to hear you got it going! Looks like a nice pickup!