problems starting truck - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

69ChevySB · 11-12-2003, 01:08 AM

my battery wouldnt hold a charge so i got a new one now when i try to start it my starter just turns my motor over but it wont fire up i tried it a few more times then saw something smoking under my hood...
i looked and it was one of the wires that goes into one of the harnesses plugging into the firewall
it was a wire with some kind of material around it which was all singed from when it was burnt. at the end of it had two yellow wires..one going to the starter and the other end going to the hei distributor could this be my problem??
maybe i had a bad connection and something caused it to burn up? if i go to the junkyard for a 69 pickup and unscrew that one bolt and unplug the left harness with maybe 1foot of each wire ...if i hook all these wires up how they were and replace the wire that burnt up, should my truck start up or does it sound like something else is wrong. help i want to get it going again thanks

Longhorn Man · 11-12-2003, 01:23 AM

Rip that wire off. Who ever installed the HEI didn't do it right. Both the cloth wire, and the yellow wire needd removed.
Once you have done this, run a wire from the fuse box in the IGNITION UNFUSED location, and plug it into the HEI BAT terminal. The yellow wire is not needed at all.

This will probably not cure the no-start blues, but once you gewt it running, it'll run better than it had before.

stllookn · 11-12-2003, 01:41 AM

Make sure the new wire you run to the HEI is at least 12 ga or 10 ga as well. You want to minimize the voltage drop so want a heavy gauge wire. Those HEI's like 12V!

Longhorn Man · 11-12-2003, 01:46 AM

Why do I always leave that part out?

69ChevySB · 11-12-2003, 10:13 PM

thanks but i have one more question, i broke the piece off the harness where it plugs into the firewall on the wire that burnt....do i no longer need to run that wire from the harness? and if this is the case can i just plug that harness back in and take
a different wire to the ign unfused and run two more wires together so one goes to the starter and the other side goes to the distributor? sort of like a "Y".

there is a red wire running to that ign unfused already i think its one of the wires to my tach, should i just tap into that wire or use the other plugin....

also, does this sound like the reason it wont start because it was shorting out somewhere? i dont know what could be wrong...it sounds like it is going to fire up but then it doesnt, the starter seems to be working perfectly.....the motor turns over but doesnt want to fire up like it should...i was thinking my carburetor is getting to much gas or something? any help appreciated. thanks

cdowns · 11-12-2003, 11:27 PM

the wire that burned up was a resistor wire and needs to be replaced the way i did it was to take a pair of needle-nose pliers where the wire runs into the firewall plug and yank it out then run the new(12ga) wire from that terminal a dab of black silicone will sealit up and you'll still have a factory look to your harness

11-12-2003, 01:08 AM	#1
69ChevySB dropped69 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Grand Canyon State Posts: 120	problems starting truck my battery wouldnt hold a charge so i got a new one now when i try to start it my starter just turns my motor over but it wont fire up i tried it a few more times then saw something smoking under my hood... i looked and it was one of the wires that goes into one of the harnesses plugging into the firewall it was a wire with some kind of material around it which was all singed from when it was burnt. at the end of it had two yellow wires..one going to the starter and the other end going to the hei distributor could this be my problem?? maybe i had a bad connection and something caused it to burn up? if i go to the junkyard for a 69 pickup and unscrew that one bolt and unplug the left harness with maybe 1foot of each wire ...if i hook all these wires up how they were and replace the wire that burnt up, should my truck start up or does it sound like something else is wrong. help i want to get it going again thanks __________________ "And yet I find, yet I find...repeating in my head. If I can't be my own, I feel better dead." -Layne Staley (R.I.P)

11-12-2003, 01:41 AM	#3
stllookn Saving 1 truck at a time! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kent, WA Posts: 6,465	Make sure the new wire you run to the HEI is at least 12 ga or 10 ga as well. You want to minimize the voltage drop so want a heavy gauge wire. Those HEI's like 12V! __________________ '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 400/TH400 '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 468/TH400w/buckets '72 C20 Halfhorn (Longhorn w/o cab and front clip) '69 Flxible Cruiser (look up ugly in the dictionary)

11-12-2003, 10:13 PM	#5
69ChevySB dropped69 Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Grand Canyon State Posts: 120	thanks but i have one more question, i broke the piece off the harness where it plugs into the firewall on the wire that burnt....do i no longer need to run that wire from the harness? and if this is the case can i just plug that harness back in and take a different wire to the ign unfused and run two more wires together so one goes to the starter and the other side goes to the distributor? sort of like a "Y". there is a red wire running to that ign unfused already i think its one of the wires to my tach, should i just tap into that wire or use the other plugin.... also, does this sound like the reason it wont start because it was shorting out somewhere? i dont know what could be wrong...it sounds like it is going to fire up but then it doesnt, the starter seems to be working perfectly.....the motor turns over but doesnt want to fire up like it should...i was thinking my carburetor is getting to much gas or something? any help appreciated. thanks __________________ "And yet I find, yet I find...repeating in my head. If I can't be my own, I feel better dead." -Layne Staley (R.I.P)

11-12-2003, 11:27 PM	#6
cdowns Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: daytonabeach Posts: 22,956	the wire that burned up was a resistor wire and needs to be replaced the way i did it was to take a pair of needle-nose pliers where the wire runs into the firewall plug and yank it out then run the new(12ga) wire from that terminal a dab of black silicone will sealit up and you'll still have a factory look to your harness __________________ 71c-10 350/2004r/4:11 lowered3/4 longbed/dead by hurricane MEANING OF DEATH::::: SOMEBODY ELSE GETS YOUR STUFF DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK TAKE MY ADVISE;I DON'T USE IT ANYWAY

11-12-2003, 01:23 AM	#2
Longhorn Man its all about the +6 inches Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Hilliard Ohio Posts: 2,693	Rip that wire off. Who ever installed the HEI didn't do it right. Both the cloth wire, and the yellow wire needd removed. Once you have done this, run a wire from the fuse box in the IGNITION UNFUSED location, and plug it into the HEI BAT terminal. The yellow wire is not needed at all. This will probably not cure the no-start blues, but once you gewt it running, it'll run better than it had before.

11-12-2003, 01:46 AM	#4
Longhorn Man its all about the +6 inches Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Hilliard Ohio Posts: 2,693	Why do I always leave that part out?



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