89Steve Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 A few weeks back I relocated the battery to the trunk. I used 0 gauge wire and ensured that no part of it was touching ground. Well after a few weeks passed I noticed that my battery was getting pretty weak on start up. It would always crank and start but just sounded weak while doing it. I can't remember if this trend started before or after the relocate. Anyway, the battery is 3 years old so I figured maybe it was time for a replacement. Went and got a yellow top, everything worked fine for a few days. Then I noticed THAT was starting to get weak which shouldnt happen. Then one day I got home, went inside for 15 mins, came back out and she didn't have enough juice to crank. I could hear the starter trying, but couldn't turn it on the compression stroke. So I jumped it today to try and get it in the garage...here's what happened: 1. Slow cranking, not enough juice to start it. Waited 5 minutes2. Now the starter is just clicking, not even trying to crank.3. Next try instead of clicking there is just a humming noise4. Fourth try I get the humming noise and electrical SMOKE (can tell by the smell) coming from both behind the instrument cluster AND where the throttle cable is held to the throttle body. From there I've been looking for shorts but have not come across any. Some of my connections need to be tightened up but I can't see how that would cause the smoke. Is it possible that my starter has failed? Any ideas on what I can look for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullzaflare Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 A few weeks back I relocated the battery to the trunk. I used 0 gauge wire and ensured that no part of it was touching ground. Well after a few weeks passed I noticed that my battery was getting pretty weak on start up. It would always crank and start but just sounded weak while doing it. I can't remember if this trend started before or after the relocate. Anyway, the battery is 3 years old so I figured maybe it was time for a replacement. Went and got a yellow top, everything worked fine for a few days. Then I noticed THAT was starting to get weak which shouldnt happen. Then one day I got home, went inside for 15 mins, came back out and she didn't have enough juice to crank. I could hear the starter trying, but couldn't turn it on the compression stroke. So I jumped it today to try and get it in the garage...here's what happened: 1. Slow cranking, not enough juice to start it. Waited 5 minutes2. Now the starter is just clicking, not even trying to crank.3. Next try instead of clicking there is just a humming noise4. Fourth try I get the humming noise and electrical SMOKE (can tell by the smell) coming from both behind the instrument cluster AND where the throttle cable is held to the throttle body. From there I've been looking for shorts but have not come across any. Some of my connections need to be tightened up but I can't see how that would cause the smoke. Is it possible that my starter has failed? Any ideas on what I can look for?is your ground cable still on the motor? if not it will use the throttle cable to ground itself. where do you have the positive cable from battery ran to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Steve Posted November 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 is your ground cable still on the motor? if not it will use the throttle cable to ground itself. where do you have the positive cable from battery ran to? No, the battery is now grounded to where the spare tire sits. The positive cable is ran from a junction block in the engine bay to the trunk where the battery is now located Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAinsworth Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 Did you also hook up the main fusible link that leads from the + to the alternator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted November 20, 2011 Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 I'd run a ground wire back to the engine bay and one to the block like it was. You are having the ground for the starter motor run through the body and all the bolts and your starter ground is coming from where? Its grounded to the block from being bolted there but where is the block grounded to? What did you do for the charge wire from the alternator and where it Ts into the fuse links? Those links are what runs the car all the time, the charge wire to the battery is just to replenish what was drained away when starting the motor and when the amps needed to run the car aren't coming from the alterntor when the engine rpms are too low. The alternator needs a ground too which is through the block and greasy or painted surfaces don't make for good connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopDawg_43 Posted November 21, 2011 Report Share Posted November 21, 2011 When I moved my battery to the trunk, I connected to original ground wire to the frame. Then I ran the pos wire from the battery to the starter. The have the original pos wire to the junction block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Steve Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys. It seems my problem is that the engine is not grounded which was pretty dumb on my part. I'm just wondering why it worked for so long and then all of a sudden failed. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let everyone know the results. Also, all of the wires that were originally connected to the + side of the battery are now connected to the junction block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Steve Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I'd run a ground wire back to the engine bay and one to the block like it was. You are having the ground for the starter motor run through the body and all the bolts and your starter ground is coming from where? Its grounded to the block from being bolted there but where is the block grounded to? What did you do for the charge wire from the alternator and where it Ts into the fuse links? Those links are what runs the car all the time, the charge wire to the battery is just to replenish what was drained away when starting the motor and when the amps needed to run the car aren't coming from the alterntor when the engine rpms are too low. The alternator needs a ground too which is through the block and greasy or painted surfaces don't make for good connections. Is it necessary to run a huge ground wire all the way back to the block? I've never seen a battery relocate do that. Won't I be able to get the same effect by simply grounding the motor to the frame? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullzaflare Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Thanks for the replies guys. It seems my problem is that the engine is not grounded which was pretty dumb on my part. I'm just wondering why it worked for so long and then all of a sudden failed. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let everyone know the results. Also, all of the wires that were originally connected to the + side of the battery are now connected to the junction block.remember your melting smell and smoke? your throttle cable was being used for a ground wire, getting hot and melting the housing, your lucky it didnt weld at open throttle Is it necessary to run a huge ground wire all the way back to the block? I've never seen a battery relocate do that. Won't I be able to get the same effect by simply grounding the motor to the frame?would be for the best connection, though, even race cars do not run the negative back to the front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighterpilot Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I personally think that your problem is in the alternator to the RELOCATED battery charging circuit. For What It's Worth. KEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullzaflare Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I personally think that your problem is in the alternator to the RELOCATED battery charging circuit. For What It's Worth. KENso you think there not being a ground to the motor doesnt effect it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89Steve Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Sorry guys haven't been on for a month or so... the issue did turn out to be my lack of grounding the motor. Ran the factory ground cable to the chassis and she fired right up Thanks for all the input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts