NEED HELP - Truck dead after starter replacement

[jtinpdx]

Hi All,
I'd love some help in trying to figure out what happened to my truck. I've got a 71 C10 longbed with a 350. Last week, it started making awful noise while I was trying to start it. I figured this was the starter motor giving out. It would start but make terrible noise and then run fine. Eventually it stopped starting, so I brought it to my mechanic.

He replaced the starter motor and did some maintenance on the flex plate. I guess the starter motor did some minor damage to the flexplate when it crapped out.

I picked up the truck right after he finished working on it. It started right up and ran great. Radio worked, electricals seemed fine. I drove it straight home and parked it.

When I went to start it the next day, it was completely dead electrically. The clock on the radio wasn't even displaying. Turning the key gave absolutely nothing. The battery is fairly new. I tried jumping it, and it seemed wrong. The jumper cables got super hot and were smoking.

Looking around the engine bay, something about the battery seemed different. Closer look and it seems the battery is now grounded from both positive and negative terminals. Negative runs straight to the engine block. Positive was running to the body. See the picture, but it's hard to see.

So I took the ground off the positive terminal, took the battery out and put it on a trickle charger for a while. Put it back in and nothing. Nothing at all. Same things still happens when I try to jump it. The cables and connections get way too hot.

What could possibly have happened? I'm at a total loss.

Thanks,
Jeff

[hamjet]

First, be carful when working around the battery. Wear glasses or goggles, or facemask..Sounds like the + battery cable down by the starter may have melted against the exhaust manifold causing a short. Thats the area the mechanic was working. See what you come up with.. I'm having a hard time seeing the red wire and small black wire( which isnt hooked up) There should be a small wire comming from the + battery terminal to the little block on the fender where the red wire is attached. whats the other end of the red wire attached to. I can't tell..

[jtinpdx]

Originally Posted by hamjet

First, be carful when working around the battery. Wear glasses or goggles, or facemask..Sounds like the + battery cable down by the starter may have melted against the exhaust manifold causing a short. Thats the area the mechanic was working. See what you come up with.. I'm having a hard time seeing the red wire and small black wire( which isnt hooked up) There should be a small wire comming from the + battery terminal to the little block on the fender where the red wire is attached. whats the other end of the red wire attached to. I can't tell..

Thanks for the help, Joe. That is how it was connected when I got it back. Negative battery terminal is actually just a cable that runs to the engine block. The positive terminal had a small black wire that connects to the red wire that bolts to the side of the engine bay. That's correct? What is that connection for?

[Sklptrljay]

The block on the fender is your positive connection for all of your electrical except the starter motor.

I agree that it sounds like your cable going to the starter melted against the exhaust and grounded out. That should have blown your fusible links and therefore you have no power. Or ruined your battery, or both.
Go to the electrical forum and you'll see on the FAQ electrical diagrams that will help you out.

[jtinpdx]

So, the mechanic took a look again. He said the fusible link burned out near the firewall, but not because of a power surge or short on manifold. Everything's working now. I think I believe him. But it's possible he was just embarrassed about letting the wire short on the manifold and just fixed it. Either way, he didn't charge me for it.

Oddly though, when the tow company left the truck in his lot, it dumped two quarts of transmission fluid onto the ground. He said that the pipe that brings fluid from the cooler to the transmission was worn from friction and finally broke. He fixed this too.

Thanks for the help, all! Love this site.

-Jeff

[Sklptrljay]

Those lines run right in the same area as the positive cable to the starter. Sounds fishy.

[jtinpdx]

Originally Posted by Sklptrljay

Those lines run right in the same area as the positive cable to the starter. Sounds fishy.

Agree, but he fixed it all on his dime.